Blog
Blog
Content Moderation Through Removal of Service: Content Delivery Networks and Extremist Websites
October 26, 2023By Seán Looney Introduction Kiwifarms was an internet forum known for its active targeting and harassment of trans people. In August 2022, the forum set its sights on Canadian Twitch Streamer and trans activist, Clara Sorrenti, also known as Keffals. The forum members called in the police to a fake bomb threat to her home and ...
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Improving Your Counter-Terrorism Response: An Introduction to the Guide on the European Regulation on Addressing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online
October 18, 2023By Sophia Rothut, Heidi Schulze, Diana Rieger, Catherine Bouko, Brigitte Naderer The European regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online (TCO Regulation) is, like the DSA, an approach to combating the spread of terrorist content online that is (1) transnational (EU-wide) and (2) holds Hosting Service Providers (HSPs) accountable. According to this regulation, ...
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Games as a tool for countering online harm
October 11, 2023Introductions The intersection between gaming and violent extremism remains understudied and, often, its conclusions tend to be prematurely and problematically drawn. The overused tropes that gaming leads to violent behaviour or that all gamers are extremists, are just a few. This is not to say that the gaming space is without fault. Violent extremists are ...
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Webinar Series: Through The Looking Glass
October 10, 2023The webinar series Through the Looking Glass: How To Incorporate Visual Material Within Research, begins on Friday 20 October and runs until Wednesday 29 November. The series features VOX-Pol members and institutions, and is free and open to all. The webinar series is hosted by the National Centre for Research Methods and organised by the ...
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The VOX-Pol Guest Lecture Series, Autumn 2023
October 6, 2023VOX-Pol is pleased to share the Autumn 2023 Guest Lecture Series on our YouTube Channel. The lectures are freely available for use in teaching and research, and we encourage our viewers to share them with your own networks. Introductory lecture Presenters: Stuart Macdonald, VOX-Pol Coordinator, and Jonathan Collins, VOX-Pol NextGen Network. Title: An Introduction to ...
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The radicalisation challenge on gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms
October 4, 2023As one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors in the world, online video gaming has garnered far more attention of late – both positive and negative. In light of the exploitation of gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms by (violent) extremist actors and the gamification of violent extremism, there continues to be increasing concerns over threats of ...
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A dictionary of the manosphere: five terms to understand the language of online male supremacists
September 27, 2023By Robert Lawson, Birmingham City University Thot. White knight. Red pilled. Cuck. Beta. Soyboy. Unicorn. Chad. To many people, these words won’t mean much. To others, they are a core part of the vocabulary of the “manosphere” – a collection of websites, social media accounts and forums dedicated to men’s issues, from health and fitness ...
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MENA‐Based, Far‐Right and Far‐Left Extremist Groups: A Date‐Based Analysis
September 20, 2023By Virginia Massignan & Mor Yachin In recent years, groups comprising various ideological perspectives have carried out violent attacks. While MENA groups still conduct the most attacks, a recent report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) claims that the United States faces its largest threat from far-right terrorism. The need to identify ...
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Main Findings of GIFCT Tech Trials: Combining Behavioural Signals to Surface Terrorist and Violent Extremist Incidents Online
September 13, 2023By Tom Thorley & Erin Saltman This article summarises a recent paper published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism that forms part of a special issue on the practicalities and complexities of (regulating) online terrorist content moderation. The special issue contains papers that were presented at Swansea University’s Terrorism and Social Media Conference 2022. Technical ...
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Negotiating Fundamental Rights: Civil Society and the EU Regulation on Addressing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online
September 6, 2023By Reem Ahmed This article summarises a recent paper published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism that forms part of a special issue on the practicalities and complexities of (regulating) online terrorist content moderation. The special issue contains papers that were presented at Swansea University’s Terrorism and Social Media Conference 2022. As part of its ...