Extremism

By Brigitte Naderer & Carina Pleier In late 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated a series of document releases under the provisions of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The initial release, which took place on 19 December 2025, encompassed a substantial volume of documentation, amounting to over 100,000 pages. This release included a wide ...

By Sam David UpScrolled, a social media platform for microblogging and short-form video sharing, experienced rapid growth in late January 2026 following disputes surrounding TikTok’s US operations. The expansion was initiated largely by allegations that protest-related content was being suppressed on mainstream platforms and, while independent verification of this is limited, the perception of such ...

By Bernadette Johnston Misogyny and problematic attitudes towards women are not new phenomena. What is new however is the speed and scale at which misogynistic ideas and related behaviours now circulate – particularly online. Problematic ‘nudification apps,’ whose sole purpose is to underdress and sexually transform photos of women online without their consent, have existed ...

By Garth Davies and Mackenzie B. Hart On September 25 and 26th, the Canadian Network for Research on Security, Extremism and Society (CANSES) hosted its 2nd Annual Workshop at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. First and foremost, CANSES is a network that connects individuals working on extremism across a variety of sectors. Reflecting ...

By Gerard Gill Introduction The Porepunkah shootings in the Australian state of Victoria have ignited a wave of conspiracy theories and rhetoric, with many in online communities framing the accused killer, Dezi Freeman, as a hero and martyr of the Freedom Movement. Freeman has become the subject of various commentaries, including claims of government persecution, ...

By Samuel Olaniran In global discussions about online extremism, messaging apps such as WhatsApp often receive less attention than platforms like Facebook, X, or TikTok. Yet WhatsApp has become one of the most powerful political tools in the Global South. Its encrypted design, ubiquity, and integration into everyday social life make it a particularly attractive ...

By Alice Sibley and Joshua Bowes As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated and embedded into social media platforms, wariness around its harmful exploitation has grown. As previous research has shown, malignant actors, ranging from misogynistic online users to extremists, have exploited AI to spread harmful conspiracy theories, share racist images and disseminate disinformation. Generative ...

Dougal Sutherland, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington A new report from New Zealand’s Classification Office has revealed how young people are being exposed to harmful content online and what it is doing to their mental health. The Classification Office spoke with ten different groups of young people aged between 12 and 25 ...

By Bo Min Keum & Richard Frank   N.B. Please be aware that this post contains slurs hostile to women, which some readers may find offensive and distressing. Reader discretion is therefore advised. (Ed.). Incel research is often conducted from the outside looking in. We were interested in how someone who has left and holds insider ...

By Stephane J. Baele The rise of “composite” extremism – and of its classifications Over the past few years, cases of violence apparently inspired by unclear or hybrid ideological motivations seem to have multiplied in OECD countries, prompting scholarly debates, law-enforcement worries, and, more recently, political declarations. Particularly striking or lethal instances that receive significant ...