Blog

VOX-Pol has been pleased to partner with Dr. Virginie Andre of Victoria University (Australia) and colleagues on a number of events, all of which address one or more aspects of terrorism and (new) media. VOX-Pol’s Coordinator, Prof. Maura Conway, contributed to a conference on ‘Addressing the New Landscape of Terrorism: Towards Formulating Actionable Responses’ held ...

By Sara Solmone Free speech is a key aspect of the internet, but it has become increasingly obvious that many online will push that freedom to extremes, leaving website comment sections, Twitter feeds and Facebook groups awash with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise unpalatable opinions and vitriolic views, and obscene or shocking images or videos. ...

By Nathan Shea The first news that militants had taken to the streets of the Islamic City of Marawi on May 23, 2017, came from Facebook. Pictures of masked men carrying assault rifles and waving the black flag of the Islamic State were swirling across social media well before Philippine and international news channels picked ...

Course Director: Prof. Maura Conway (School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland) This week-long VOX-Pol summer course is designed to provide PhD students and post-doctoral and early career researchers with an introduction to the role of the internet in contemporary violent extremism(s) and terrorism. The course will employ a mix-methods teaching style and will include ...

By Eviane Leidig A lacuna exists in the study of the radical right whereby researchers focus disproportionately on developments in Europe and North America. Yet, countries such as India, the Philippines, Turkey, and Brazil highlight how the radical right can operate, and indeed flourish, beyond the West. Our failure to incorporate these non-Western case studies poses ...

In 2018, VOX-Pol published a total of 50 blog posts on the theme of Violent Online Political Extremism. The blogs covered topics as varied as crypocurrencies, human rights, propaganda, artificial intelligence, gender, social media, and data protection. A series of blog posts on ‘ethics in terrorism research’ was widely shared on Twitter, and an article ...

By Anne Speckhard and Ardian Shajkovci With the collapse of the so-called “Islamic State” in Iraq, and much of Syria, an immediate corresponding and steady decline occurred in ISIS’ strategic communication and online propaganda activities. However, the group’s “virtual Caliphate” is rebounding and still remains very much alive today – it continues to create new content, ...

Welcome to Volume 6 Issue 1 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence for Research in Violent Online Political Extremism reached five years in December 2018; a huge thanks to everyone who has contributed along the way. The project has been given a one-year extension to December 2019 by the European Commission. In ...

VOX-Pol has released its Violent Extremism and Terrorism Online in 2018: The Year in Review today, authored by Professor Maura Conway. This is the third publication in the Year in Review series following the Year in Review 2017 and the Year in Review 2016. About the Report This report treats developments in the violent extremist and terrorist online scenes ...

By Kyle Matthews & Nicolai Pogadl In mid-September 2017 the European Union threatened to fine the Big Tech companies if they did not remove terrorist content within one hour of appearing online. The change came because rising tensions are now developing and being played out on social media platforms. Social conflicts that once built up in ...