Blog

by Sajda Mughal It is becoming increasingly evident that, in the words of the former Conservative party chair, Lady Warsi, Britain is“fighting an ever-losing battle” to prevent extremists from radicalising people online. While police are trying urgently to locate missing Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, who have believed to have ...

A group of 18 students from the University of South Dakota visited Dublin City University on 14 May as part of VOX-Pol’s student outreach. The students are enrolled in a University of South Dakota module on ‘Radicalism and Revolutions,’ which has a specific focus on the Irish War of Independence in the early 20th Century ...

by Maura Conway Some scholars and others remain skeptical of a significant role for the Internet in processes of violent radicalisation. There is increasing concern on the part of other scholars, and increasingly also policymakers and publics, that high and increasing levels of always-on Internet access and the production and wide dissemination—and thence easy availability—of ...

Welcome to Vol. 2, Iss. 2 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence is a European Union Framework Programme 7 funded academic research network focused on researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of Violent Online Political Extremism and responses to it. It is a five-year programme which commenced on 1 January, 2014. We ...

VOX-Pol is offering opportunities for researchers working in Violent Online Political Extremism to further expand and strengthen their research careers under its Researcher Exchange Programme. The Programme enables scientific visits and research stays in a partner institution within the VOX-Pol network. Opportunities are available for those at the early stages of their career as well as established researchers as ...

by Azra Naseem The Maldives adopted Islam as its official religion in 1153 CE and is a ‘100 per cent Muslim country’ with a Constitution that stipulates a non-Muslim cannot be a citizen. Despite the long history of being an Islamic society, and laws that forbid even foreign residents from openly practising any other religion, ...

Millions of Euro are being pumped into producing online content aimed at preventing young people from being drawn into extremist activities via the Internet, especially via social media content consumption and interaction. Orla Lehane, a PhD candidate at Dublin City University’s School of Law and Government, is utilising Grounded Theory methods to explore whether on ...

by Morgane Colleau In The Hizbullah Phenomenon: Politics and Communication, Lina Khatib, Dinar Matar and Atef Alshaer offer a comprehensive analysis of the group’s sophisticated political communication strategy since its inception in 1982. Although they offer no startling insights into the group’s socio-political aims and approaches within Lebanon or its relations with foreign powers, their contribution lies ...

by Aaron Y. Zelin Ten years ago, an individual said: “We are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media. And that we are in a media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of our Umma.” The individual was Aymen ...

Last week Twitter General Counsel, Vijaya Gadde, contributed an editorial in The Washington Post entitled ‘Here’s How We’re Trying to Stop Abuse while Preserving Free Speech.’ Yesterday, Twitter’s Director of Product Management, Shreyas Doshi, released new information on ‘Policy and Product Updates Aimed at Combating Abuse’ in a Twitter Blog post, including an update on their Violence and ...