VOX-Pol Newsletter 13(5) - VOX

Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 5 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter.

There is just over one month to go until the TASM (Terrorism and Social Media) Conference, which VOX-Pol is proud to co-organise. TASM is a collaborative, multistakeholder event. As well as more than 80 papers from academic researchers, there are many other sessions for attendees to choose from. These include:

A hands-on workshop, led by Open AI, in which participants design and test a simplified end-to-end Trust & Safety system
A workshop led by TikTok, presenting case studies and best practice for conducting research on the platform
The launch of a ground-breaking new report, co-produced by UNICRI and the VOX-Pol Institute, on the global manifestations of violent and coercive online networks
Sessions from GIFCT on youth radicalisation in gaming spaces, and the development of a definitional framework for modern attackers and networks like Com
A workshop led by Hedayah in which teams develop proposed uses of generative AI for counter extremism purposes
Sessions from the Christchurch Call Foundation on its Project Catalyst on gender-based violence and online misogyny, Project Elevate on the creation of AI safety benchmarks related to grievance amplification and radicalisation to violence, and on multistakeholder work more generally
A session from Shout Out UK on producing an empirically-grounded, hyper-localised set of multimedia CVE resources
A workshop led by Public Safety Canada and New Zealand Police aimed at developing safer, more coordinated approaches to NVE research, investigation, prevention and communication

The conference is taking place at Swansea University, UK, on 16-18 June. Tickets are still available via tasmconf.com

FORTHCOMING BOOK RELEASE

Dr Miron Lakomy, Understanding Media Jihad (Routledge, 2026)

Ebook release: 21 September, 2026

The monograph examines how Salafi-jihadi terrorist organisations use the internet—not just for propaganda, but as a core part of their broader strategy. It draws on several research projects Dr Lakomy has been involved in since 2020, combining, among others, open-source intelligence, social network analysis, and content analysis.

The study is based on a large dataset (nearly 1,300 channels and over 29,000 pieces of content), enabling an in-depth look at how these groups build online ecosystems, spread narratives, attract audiences, and adapt to P/CVE countermeasures. The book is aimed at anyone interested in terrorism and security studies, media and communication, or countering violent extremism in the digital space.

VOX-Pol PUBLICATIONS

Emilia Lounela recently defended her doctoral thesis on incel online communities. The thesis is available here: https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/57cf97c7-98dd-4cd6-a1a6-7efcb3961831

Lea Brost published an Insight titled ‘Platforms for PCVE: A Look at the Influencers Countering Islamist Extremism on TikTok’ on the GNET blog recently, which can be found here: https://gnet-research.org/2026/04/28/platforms-for-pcve-a-look-at-the-influencers-countering-islamist-extremism-on-tiktok/.

Amarnath Amarasingam and Stephanie Carven have authored a book ‘For Blood and Soil’ on Far Right Extremism in Canada. By tracing the experiences of individuals who have joined and left extremist groups, this accessible and authoritative work uncovers how extremist ideologies are financed and facilitated and how personal and political forces sustain hate across generations.

JM Berger published 14 Theses Concerning Online Political Extremism on Medium in which he writes about how recent events have upended online safety and that it is time to rethink our entire approach to tackling online political violence.

David Wells published AI and Education in P/CVE: Risks, Opportunities and Next Steps in The EU Knowledge Hub digital magazine on Strategic Communication and AI. David also featured in Is AI Going to be a Threat to our Safety? for The Centre for International and Defence Policy Podcast.

VOX-Pol members Sophia Rothut, Heidi Schulze, Diana Rieger and Brigitte Naderer authored the article (with Maximilian Lechner) Protest movements and the mainstreaming of radical and extremist ideologies: the case of COVID-19 protests in the journal Information, Communication & Society. Sophia, Heidi and Diana also authored the article (with Julian Hohner and Simon Griepl) Radicalization and the internet: 25 years of (online) radicalization research in the journal The Communication Review.