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 ...
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Beyond Western Misogyny: A growing incel movement in Turkey?
November 6, 2024
By Kamil Yilmaz and Joe Whittaker The past decade has seen several lone actor attacks conducted by men who identify as involuntary celibate (incels). The movement is well-known for being an online community of men who go online to discuss their inability to form sexual or romantic relationships, often resulting in extremely misogynistic online posts. ...
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Nazis at the salad bar: The National Workers’ Alliance and mixed, unclear, and unstable ideology
October 9, 2024
By Gerard Gill Recent developments in violent extremism have included an uptick in the salience of mixed, unclear, and unstable (MUU) or ‘salad bar’ ideologies. These are worldviews where numerous, sometimes disparate perspectives combine in a dynamic and evolving manner, resulting in a belief system that is hard to comprehensively define. A growth in MUU ...
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Bangladesh’s political transition viewed as opportunity by Islamic State and al-Qaeda
October 2, 2024
By Sean McCafferty and Marjuka Binte Afzal Bangladesh’s recent political turmoil has sparked interest from Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ), both seeing the regime change as a strategic opportunity. With the government in transition, security reforms needed, and jihadist propaganda targeting Bangladesh, there is a risk of increased jihadist activity during the country’s democratic ...
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Breaking Ground: The EU’s First Far-Right Designation of ‘The Base’ and Its Impact on Online Content
August 2, 2024
By Anne Craanen In 2021, two members of The Base (a neo-Nazi accelerationist organisation) were arrested in the Netherlands for membership of a terrorist organisation as well as attempting a terrorist plot on former Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. On Friday 26 July 2024, the European Union (EU) sanctioned The Base as a terrorist organisation under ...
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Grievance, Pseudohistory, and AI: A Powerful Recipe for The Generation of Extremist Narratives?
July 17, 2024
By Daniel E. Levenson Successful ideologues and leaders in extremist movements have long been aware of the power that misleading, but powerfully Manichean, pseudo-historical narratives can have on audiences. The foundation of this propagandistic material is often rooted in self-serving mythologies which justify the scapegoating of others and validation of the deeply felt grievances that ...
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The proscription of Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation in the UK: Insights from the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
June 26, 2024
By Joshua Farrell-Molloy On 26 April the UK became the first country in the world to proscribe the ‘Terrorgram Collective’. From today, membership, support, or the display of articles associated with the network is now illegal and can carry a punishment of up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine. The listing of Terrorgram represents a ...