Mariam ShahThe Digital Weaponry of Radicalisation: AI and the Recruitment Nexus
Introduction Islamic State (IS) recently released a powerful recruitment message for ‘distracted Muslim youth’ to travel and join IS territories…
Kye AllenBeyond Hitler and Mussolini: TikTok and the Adoration of Minor Fascist Ideologues
Introduction The spread of extreme right-wing propaganda on TikTok is a familiar problem. Admiration for fascist ideologues from the early…
Dr. Colin ClarkeISKP’s Latest Campaign: Expanded Propaganda and External Operations
Introduction The Islamic State Khurasan Province’s (ISKP) capabilities and intent to carry out attacks outside of its nucleus in Pakistan…
Marten Risius“Substitution”: Extremists’ New Form of Implicit Hate Speech to Avoid Detection
Content Warning: This insight contains antisemitic, racist, and hateful imagery. Introduction Extremists exploit social media platforms to spread hate against…
Dr. Chamila LiyanageOn the Road to Quds: How the Axis of Resistance Defines Geopolitical Battlegrounds in Favour of Authoritarianism
Introduction ‘Shia civilization awakened’, a Russian ideologue proclaimed on his Telegram channel in early 2024, hailing the infamous Axis of…
Lucas AlmeidaFriend of the Locals, Enemy of the State: The Social Media Presence of Comando Vermelho
*Disclaimer: To uphold transparency about the posts reflected in this Insight, some posts and accounts presented here were current as…
Michael PrasadSwatting: A Fictitious Threat Generating Real-World Hazards
Introduction Swatting is named after the ‘Special Weapons and Tactics’ groups of law enforcement officials in the United States –…
Constantin WinklerGaming the System: The Use of Gaming-Adjacent Communication, Game and Mod Platforms by Extremist Actors
Introduction Since the live-streamed racist and antisemitic attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Halle, Germany, in 2019 and details of…
Eliot OreskovicMore than Sports: Building Resilience against Extremism in Esports
Eliot J. Oreskovic is an Executive Co-Director of the United States Esports Association, which is a member of the Extremism…
Dr. Ryan ScrivensExamining Online Behaviours: Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists During Peak Posting Days
Despite the ongoing need for practitioners to identify violent right-wing extremists (RWEs) online before their engagement in violence offline, there…
Jonathan Suseno SarwonoTracing Austronesian Supremacy Rhetoric on Social Media: Its Impact on the Fate of Rohingya Refugees
Introduction The Rohingya refugee crisis, which has been ongoing since 2017, has once again attracted international attention. While the conflict…
Mona ThakkarISKP and Digital Propaganda: An Escalating Anti-India Media Warfare
Introduction Islamic State in Al-Hind province (ISHP), IS’s branch in India, has been close to operationally dormant since mid-2022, with…
Diana WallensTwo Paths, Same Destination: Analysing White Nationalist X Accounts Amid the War in Gaza
Introduction On 7 October 2023, Islamist militant group Hamas launched a terror attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 and…
Fredrick OgengaStrange Names in the Village: Online Radicalisation, Social Media Literacy and P/CVE in Western Kenya
Introduction Terrorists understand that the resilience of their organisations does not depend solely on the number of trained members, but…
Federico BorgonovoAI-Powered Jihadist News Broadcasts: A New Trend In Pro-IS Propaganda Production?
Introduction Until now, pro-Islamic State (IS) Artificial Intelligence (AI) propaganda materials were generated and shared online by supporters of the…
Anda SoleaHiding in Plain Sight: How the ‘Newgen’ Misogynistic Incel Content Creators Escape Moderation on TikTok
Content warning: This Insight contains mentions of sexual and graphic violence, suicide, and racist language In the past few years,…
Pablo JostCash for Incitement: The Monetisation of Digital Hate in Germany
Introduction Right-wing extremist and conspiratorial movements have historically relied on diverse funding sources like large donations, concerts and merchandise sales.…
Abdul BasitTech and Terror: Why Have Drones Not Penetrated the Afghanistan-Pakistan Militant Landscape?
Introduction The Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region is one of the world’s most volatile and competitive militant landscapes. The region has lost…
Emilia LounelaImagining the Past: Justifications of Ideology in Incel Communities
Introduction Incel (‘involuntary celibacy’) online communities have become known for hostile, misogynist ideology and a hopeless, deterministic and self-deprecating worldview.…
Joshua BowesMoscow Attack: The Popularisation of Far-Right Conspiracy Theories in Mainstream Media
Introduction In the immediate aftermath of the 22 March attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, social media was replete with…
Rachel KowertThe Radicalisation of Digital Playgrounds: The Need for Multistakeholder Dialogue
Introduction The potential nexus between gaming and radicalisation into extremism has become a hot topic for scholars, tech companies, policymakers,…
Osama AhmadUnveiling Terrorist Influence: The Case of Pakistan’s 2024 General Elections
Introduction Elections in fragile democracies are often the targets of terrorist exploitation. Notably, general elections that took place in Pakistan…
Francis OkpalekeEyes in the Sky: The Innovation Dilemma of Drone Proliferation among Violent Non-State Actors in the Sahel
Introduction The Sahel, with its vast geographical expanse and porous borders, has become a hub for violent non-state actors (VNSAs),…
Saddiq BashaThe Creeping Influence of the Extreme Right’s Meme Subculture in Southeast Asia’s TikTok Community
Introduction In a GNET Insight from November 2023, Jonathan Sarwono identified the presence of an extreme right TikTok community based…
Meili CriezisThe Moscow Terrorist Attack: Pro-Islamic State Narratives and their Wider Implications
Introduction On 22 March 2024, four gunmen entered Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia and carried out an attack killing…
Sajid AzizVirtual Battlegrounds: Understanding the Online Campaign of Baloch Separatist Groups in Pakistan
Background Heavy breathing fills the audio as the head-mounted camera captures a gun, apparently an M203 Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher, its…
Kris McGuffiePreventing Extremist Violence Using Existing Content Moderation Tools
Kris McGuffie is a member of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN). The EGRN works together to uncover how…
Ella BuschThe Deepfake Threat to the 2024 US Presidential Election
Introduction As the 2024 US election campaign ramps up, artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes are already having a corrosive effect…
Amin MekacherPreparing for the Boogaloo: How Far-Right Communities Rallied on Discord for the Unite the Right Rally
Introduction In August 2017, Charlottesville, Virginia, had its streets swarmed by white nationalists, klansmen and far-right militia in a demonstration…
Yosua PradityaThe COVID-19 Pandemic Exploited by Extremists: A Comparative Analysis of Indonesia and Germany
Introduction COVID-19 social restrictions provided fertile ground for extremists around the world. During lockdown, as people spent significantly more time…
Joshua Bowes‘It’s Over! White People are Finished’: Accelerationist Memes using Generative AI on 4chan’s ‘/pol‘
Content Warning: this Insight contains antisemitic, racist and hateful imagery and language. Introduction Contemporary research on the use of the…
Paola TestaCLASSIFIED 1948/2024: What Israeli AI Implementation Teaches Us About the Warfare of Tomorrow
Introduction Israel has become one of the most technologically advanced and AI-driven countries in the world almost 76 years after…
Esteban Villa-TurekCombating Online Extremism in the Global South: Lessons from COVID-19 Misinformation Flows
Introduction Understanding the mechanisms driving the diffusion of problematic information – information that is “inaccurate, misleading, inappropriately attributed, or altogether…
Elyse Willemsen‘Doing What God Designed Men To Do’: Red Pilled Christians’ Quest for Patriarchy, According to Scripture
Introduction The Red Pill philosophy is the foundation for many online, misogynist, male-only groups, colloquially known as the manosphere. The…
Jake Okechukwu EffoduhThe Role and Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Extremist Fuelled Election Misinformation in Africa
Background The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era of technological possibilities, transforming industries and societies…
Mariana RibeiroThe Ultimate Game: What We Learned from Mobilising Gamers During Brazil’s Elections
Mari Ribeiro and Court Williams are members of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN). The EGRN works together to…
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