Blog
Mobilising Extremism in Times of Change: Understanding the Far-Right’s Use of Toxic Communications
June 28, 2023
by Jonathan Collins This article summarises a recent paper published in European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research The rise of harmful far-right narratives and the increasing reliance on social media platforms for socialising have created a fertile breeding ground for radical ideological movements and social divisions during the (and “post”) pandemic. However, there is ...
Blog
Hate in the Homeland: Reorienting Our Analytic Perspective on Extremism – A Book Review
June 14, 2023
A Book Review by Ashley Mattheis Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right takes an innovative line of approach to exploring processes of radicalization through an analysis of spaces and places where interaction and engagement with extremism occur. This may seem a small shift but represents a major perspectival refocusing in both practical ...
Blog
My Wish to be a #Tradwife: An Introduction to #tradwife Memes on Whisper
June 7, 2023
By Ninian Frenguelli and Amy-Louise Watkin Research into online extremist behaviour is centred around Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, 4chan, Telegram, and Gab. Studies focusing on platforms where image sharing is the purpose (rather than text or video sharing) are generally underrepresented in the literature on online extremist content. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube account for 55%, 35% and 8.7% of the studies ...
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Far-Right Lone-Actor Terrorist Attacks and Violent Extremist use of File-Sharing Platforms
February 1, 2023
By Sean McCafferty This analysis will focus on the role of file-sharing platforms in disseminating propaganda linked to violent far-right lone-actor attacks, examining the recent Bratislava perpetrator as a case study. A pattern among a selection of attackers represents an emerging typology of behaviour within the propaganda dissemination strategies of violent extremists on the far ...
Blog
Online Terrorism Studies: Analysis of the Literature
October 19, 2022
This article summarizes the recent research note that examines the literature on online terrorism studies, published by Ali Unlu and Kamil Yilmaz. By Kamil Yilmaz There has been a steady increase in the number of scientific productions on terrorism during the last two decades. One specific area of research that gained traction is online radicalization ...
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How Online Digital Music May Have Contributed to the Decline of the American Racist Skinhead
October 12, 2022
By Jonathan Pieslak In late June 2012 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)—one of the premier hate-group and extremism watchdog organizations in the United States—published a report on racist skinhead subculture, describing the movement as “…among the most dangerous far-right threats facing law enforcement today.” Sadly, the report offered an all-too-accurate description of the potency ...
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How Far-Right Online Spaces Use Mainstream Media To Spread Their Ideology
October 5, 2022
This article summarizes the recent research report Mainstream media use in far-right online ecosystems, published by Mario Peucker, Thomas J. Fisher and Jacob Davey (ISD). A more in-depth analysis was also published in the journal Media , Culture & Society. By Mario Peucker Mistrust in the media is widespread among Australians, but this view becomes particularly antagonistic ...
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Close to Home: The Canadian Far Right, COVID-19 and Social Media
June 29, 2022
By Merlyna Lim and Brandon Rigato Weeks after the so-called “freedom convoy” protests ended, a familiar quietness has returned to the streets of downtown Ottawa. No more sounds of blaring horns and people partying into the wee hours. The only remaining visible traces are abandoned trucks in impound yards and barriers on streets. But these too will ...
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The Right-leaning be Memeing: Extremist Uses of Internet Memes and Insights for CVE Design
May 11, 2022
This Blog post is the first in a four-part series of article summaries from the EU H2020-funded BRaVE project’s  First Monday Special Issue exploring societal resilience to online polarization and extremism. The second is HERE. Read the full article HERE [Ed.]. By Inés Bolaños Somoano This post synopsises my article ‘The right-leaning be memeing: Extremist uses ...
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Extreme Wives: A Gender Analysis of Online Extremism—the Case of Jihadi Brides and Tradwives
May 4, 2022
By Marco Farucci The events of January 6th showcased the strength of online communities and their ability to transfer extremist ideologies from the online to the offline world. Online extremism usually takes the form of violent, racist, and misogynistic content on social media. The business models of social media platforms are designed with ‘suggesting mechanisms’ ...