Welcome to Volume 12, Issue 10 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter.
NEW VOX-Pol PUBLICATION
VOX-Pol has published a new report titled, Researching the Far Right Safely in Academia: Current Practices and Constraints authored by Dr Antonia Vaughan.
The report was launched with an online event hosted by Dr. Elizabeth Pearson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Royal Holloway, University of London. Report author Antonia Vaughan introduced the report and its findings, followed by a panel discussion about researching the far right with guest Dr Audrey Gagnon (Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa). The launch discussion is available to watch on the VOX-Pol YouTube channel.
TASM CONFERENCE 2026
The Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference takes place at Swansea University, UK on 16-18 June 2026. The Call for Papers closes this week, on Friday 17 October 2025.
Submissions on all aspects of the intersection of extremism and terrorism with the internet will be considered, including ones focusing on methodology, pedagogy and research ethics and welfare. Find more info at this link.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS BY VOX-Pol MEMBERS
VOX-Pol Member David Wells wrote two reports recently:
- Report on the Emerging Patterns of Misuse of Technology by Terrorist Actors, published by the Council of Europe on 11 September 2025.
- Mapping Terrorist AI Use: Identifying Factors Behind a Slower Than Anticipated Adoption Rate, published by GNET on 17 September 2025.
Emilia Lounela wrote an article on misogyny and extremism, published last week in the newsletter from the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation ‘A rule, not an exception: Misogyny and violent extremism‘.
Michael Loadenthal co-authored a journal article examining the online video library of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, published on Perspectives in Terrorism. Read it at this link. Related to this work are two previous articles published on DFRLab.
Shabana Fayyaz published an article in Stratheia, titled Cyber Literacy: Pakistan’s First Line of Defense Against Digital Threats. Prof Fayyaz is Professor of Defense and Strategic Studies at Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad.
ON THE VOX-Pol BLOG
The VOX-Pol Blog is back after the August break with a new editorial team. In September, the Blog published two posts developed from the C-REX & VOX-Pol Summer School, and the Blog has featured region-specific articles on Australia, Nigeria and the EU.
- No Ads, New Risks? How Political Discourse and the Spread of Extremist Content Might Reshape After Platforms’ Responses to the EU TTPA Regulation, 8 October 2025, by Sophia Rothut & Brigitte Naderer
- When Hate Goes Viral: WhatsApp and Nigeria’s 2023 elections, 1 October 2025, by Samuel Olaniran
- Extremists are targeting young Australians who crave belonging. What can we do? 24 September 2025, by Kristy Campion and Emma Colvin
- After the Attack: The Challenge of Bystander Content, 17 September 2025, by Alastair Reed, Anne Craanen, and Arthur Bradley
- C-REX & VOX-Pol PhD Summer School: The Importance of Visiting Memorial Sites for Researchers, 10 September 2025, by Nicola Mathieson, Audrey Gagnon, and Ashton Kingdon
- C-REX & VOX-Pol PhD Summer School: Building Community Among PhD and ECR Scholars, 3 September 2025, by Audrey Gagnon and Nicola Mathieson
Advice and instructions on how to contribute to the Blog is here.
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And find us on LinkedIn @VOX-Pol.