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VOX-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 ...

As 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 ...

By 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 ...

By 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 ...

By 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 ...

By 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 ...

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue 3 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. UPCOMING EVENT A launch event for the Tech Against Terrorism Europe (TATE) project takes place in Paris on Thursday, 28 September 2023, from 14:30 to 20:30. The event will bring together relevant actors in countering the terrorist use of the internet, in particular the diverse stakeholders involved in implementing ...

The VOX-Pol Blog publishes weekly articles on the topic of online extremism and terrorism. This year’s VOX-Pol Blog posts have covered issues with a global reach, such as incels, the far right, disinformation, online regulations, and platforms. The Blog also covered research-related concerns such as researcher welfare and interdisciplinary collaboration. This year we featured four book ...

By Felix Lippe “I want to write a book to prevent other young people from going to Syria and joining the so-called Islamic State!“ It is with that statement from a former who initiated the project Jamal al-Khatib – My Path!, that we (the members of the Vienna-based CSO turn), usually start our presentations, workshops ...

By Jing Zeng, Utrecht University and Daniela Mahl, University of Zurich The last few years have seen the west swept by political polarisation, much of which has played out online. Debates around race, gender and freedom of speech have splintered democracies, spread conspiracy theories and sparked a series of culture wars. One byproduct of this ...