Blog
Does the Media Say Too Much When Reporting on Terrorism?
March 16, 2016
By Javier Delgado Rivera News coverage of investigations into terrorist attacks raise concerns about whether the media goes too far in reporting police findings that may be of some help to bloodthirsty fundamentalists. Before committing their heinous acts, terrorist-minded individuals will be sure to wipe out all the information on their cell phones after learning ...
Blog
Assessing the Ethics and Politics of Policing the Internet for Extremist Material
March 9, 2016
The Oxford Internet Institute’s Ian Brown and MIT’s Josh Cowls co-authored the VOX-Pol report entitled Check the Web: Assessing the Ethics and Politics of Policing the Internet for Extremist Material, which explores the complexities of policing the web for extremist material, and looks into its implications for security, privacy, and human rights. Below, Josh Cowls discusses the report with Bertie ...
Blog
How ISIS Supporters Filter Extremism Through Instagram
March 2, 2016
By Aabid Shafi ISIS’ social media capabilities are well known. The effectiveness with which the group makes use of social media to recruit new fighters and spread its propaganda has set off an alarm among security agencies around the globe. It has even led to former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton terming ISIS the “most ...
News
VOX-Pol Contributes to International Roundtable Discussion on Countering Terrorism in Kazakhstan
March 1, 2016
Factors underlying violent extremism and radicalisation that lead to terrorism and ways to effectively address this threat in Central Asia and beyond were the focus of an international roundtable discussion organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Centre for Military Strategic Research under the Ministry of Defence in Astana yesterday, ...
Blog
Pressuring Platforms to Censor Content is Wrong Approach to Combatting Terrorism
February 24, 2016
By Scott Craig and Emma Llansó The UK government has published a new counter-extremism strategy outlining the steps it intends to take to counter extremist ideologies in British society. In an expansion of earlier efforts designed to prevent people being “drawn into terrorism,” the government now intends to actively challenge non-violent extremism both online and ...
Blog
What Analysis of the Islamic State’s Messaging Keeps Missing
February 17, 2016
by Haroro Ingram Countering Islamic State “strategic communications” is one of the most pressing national security concerns facing Western governments. Developing more nuanced understanding of the organization’s communications strategy will be crucial to devising effective counter-narrative strategies. Yet popular commentary tends to explain the appeal of Islamic State messaging by pointing to its graphic violence, use ...
Newsletter
VOX-Pol Newsletter 3(1) February 2016
February 11, 2016
Welcome to Vol. 3, Iss. 1 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. VOX-Pol is now at the beginning of its third year, and we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead, full of events and publications. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in the content of this newsletter or any events and ...
Blog
Challenges of Using Twitter as a Data Source: An Overview of Current Resources
February 10, 2016
by Wasim Ahmed In one of my previous blog posts I outlined a number of software applications that could be used to capture and analyse data from Twitter. In this blog post I outline some of the methodological, ethical, privacy, and copyright issues associated with using Twitter as a data source. Twitter can be used as a ...
Blog
Al-Shabaab Returns to Twitter
February 3, 2016
by David Mair On Thursday 21st January 2015, al-Shabaab attacked the Lido Beach area of Mogadishu in the heart of Somalia.  The area is regarded as Somalia’s premier tourism destination; where Somalis can relax on white sands and enjoy the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.  Despite being on the Foreign Office no-go list, Lido ...
Blog
Analyzing the Islamic State’s Information Campaign: Interview With Australian National Univ’s Haroro Ingram
January 27, 2016
by Joel Wing In the west, the Islamic State (IS) is usually described as a new type of insurgent group that is exploiting technological advances to spread its message to create a new global brand of jihad that has attracted followers from around the world. Haroro Ingram, a Research Fellow at the Coral Bell School ...