Blog
The shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego is part of a far‑right curriculum of violence
May 27, 2026
Amarnath Amarasingam, Queen’s University, Ontario Two teenaged gunmen recently opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing a security guard and two staff members before being found with fatal self-inflicted wounds in a nearby vehicle. Like so many recent extremist mass shootings, they livestreamed the attack and, uniquely, even livestreamed their suicides. Police ...
News
Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference 2026
May 15, 2026
Hosted at Swansea University and attended by 250+ delegates from countries around the world, the TASM Conference is one of the leading international conferences on extremist and terrorist use of online platforms. Attended by a wide range of stakeholders, including tech companies, governments, law enforcement, regulators, civil society and researchers from many different academic disciplines, the ...
Newsletter
VOX-Pol Newsletter 13(3)
April 20, 2026
Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 3 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter. The Only Way is Ethics: Next Gen Networks Unite The University of Southampton’s Centre for Criminology in the Digital Age is excited to convene an event dedicated to supporting the next generation of researchers working at the cutting edge of sensitive, ethically complex research. This ...
Blog
Masculinity and Militant Traditions: The Shaping of a Home-Grown Irish Far-Right
February 11, 2026
By Joshua Farrell-Molloy Only a decade ago, Ireland’s far right was barely visible. Its current form is rooted in 1990s anti-abortion activism, which shaped the political careers of figures Justin Barrett and James Reynolds, who in 2016 co-founded the National Party, Ireland’s largest far-right party. The 2018 abortion referendum provided an early incubation space for ...
Blog
The Hide-and-Seek Champion: Conspiracist Reactions to the Porepunkah Shootings
October 22, 2025
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, ...
Blog
Exploiting the Algorithm: How British Extreme Right-Wing Individuals and Groups Leverage Grok and Generative AI for Malign Purposes
July 23, 2025
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 ...
Blog
Social media influencers, the far right and their potential impact on youth (radicalisation)
November 13, 2024
By Sophia Rothut, Darian Harff & Cornelius Puschmann In today’s digitalised world, social media platforms have evolved into powerful channels for disseminating political information and shaping political opinion. While these platforms can enhance democratic processes by, for instance, increasing opportunities to participate in political discussions or acquire political knowledge, they also pose challenges, particularly with ...
Blog
The Rise and Fall of the Male State Movement
October 30, 2024
By Anna Kruglova This analysis will discuss the case of a Russian far-right movement named the Male State, and its transition from being one of the most notorious misogynist movements in Russia to one of the main online supporters and promoters of the war in Ukraine. When the war in Ukraine began, it became a ...
Blog
Emotions & Belonging in Far-Right Social Media Space
September 11, 2024
By Jonathan Collins This blog offers a condensed version of a recently published article in Social Media + Society. To read the full version, click here. The increased participation within far-right alternative platforms (Alt-Tech) is generating significant attention from scholars interested in the community’s communication patterns and dynamics. Perhaps unsurprising for a movement seeking or ...
Blog
Christian Nationalism in the Case of the Dilley Meme Team
May 1, 2024
By Phoebe Jones In early January 2024, ahead of the Iowa Caucus, Donald Trump posted a video titled “God Made Trump” to his Truth Social account. The video is a play on Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech, which he delivered at the Future Farmers of America Convention in 1978 to valorize farmers and overtly link ...