- Jul312024

‘Islamic Republic of France’: AI and the Spreading of Islamophobic Conspiracy Theories Around the French Parliamentary Elections
Introduction In the wake of the recent European elections, Emmanuel Macron stunned the continent following his party’s disappointing showing by…
Piotr Marczynski - Jul292024

Gaining Steam: Far-Right Radicalisation on Gaming Platforms
Introduction In the entertainment industry, gaming has become the most profitable business, surpassing both music and film production. According to…
Shiraz Shaikh - Jul252024

Racists Ridicule ‘Zion Don’ After Foiled Assassination
Content Warning: This Insight contains antisemitic, racist, and hateful imagery. Introduction Given right-wing extremists’ love of political spectacle and tendency…
Dr. Bethan Johnson - Jul242024

13 Years On: The Enduring Influence of Breivik’s Manifesto on Far-Right Terror
Introduction On 22 July 2011, Anders Breivik carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Norway’s history, killing 77 and injuring…
Joshua Molloy - Jul182024

Camera, Action, Play: An Exploration of Extremist Activity on Video- and Livestreaming Platforms
Introduction Since the livestreamed attacks in Christchurch, Halle and the US Capitol Building, streaming platforms have become a topic of…
Lars Wiegold - Jul152024

All the World’s a Stage: How Predictive Programming Crafts Far-Right X Users’ Worldview
Introduction This Insight investigates how far-right X users construct their worldview around fictional media and predictive programming, that is, the…
Mason Krusch - Jul112024

Methodologies in Manipulation: The Far-Right’s Antisemitic Discourse Online Amid the Israel-Hamas War
Introduction Israel’s war on Hamas has been making headlines worldwide since it began on 7 October 2023. However, individuals around…
Uri Klempner - Jul092024

The Hate Ministries: Far-Right Social Media Extremism in Argentina and Brazil
Introduction In recent years in Argentina and Brazil, far-right governments have risen to power, represented by the leadership of Argentinian…
Ariel Goldstein - Jul042024

The 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…
Mariam Shah - Jul012024

Beyond 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…
Kye Allen - Jun272024

ISKP’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…
Dr. Colin Clarke - Jun242024

“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…
Marten Risius - Jun202024

On 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…
Dr. Chamila Liyanage - Jun172024

Friend 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…
Lucas Almeida - Jun122024

Swatting: 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 –…
Michael Prasad - Jun102024

Gaming 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…
Constantin Winkler - Jun052024

More 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…
Eliot Oreskovic - Jun032024

Examining 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…
Dr. Ryan Scrivens - May282024

Tracing 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…
Jonathan Suseno Sarwono - May222024

ISKP 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…
Mona Thakkar - May202024

Two 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…
Diana Wallens - May152024

Strange 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…
Fredrick Ogenga - May092024

AI-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…
Federico Borgonovo - May072024

Hiding 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,…
Anda Solea - May012024

Cash 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.…
Pablo Jost - Apr292024

Tech 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…
Abdul Basit - Apr252024

Imagining 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.…
Emilia Lounela - Apr232024

Moscow 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…
Joshua Bowes - Apr172024

The 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,…
Rachel Kowert - Apr152024

Unveiling 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…
Osama Ahmad - Apr102024

Eyes 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),…
Francis Okpaleke - Apr082024

The 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…
Saddiq Basha - Apr032024

The 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…
Meili Criezis - Apr022024

Virtual 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…
Sajid Aziz - Mar282024

Preventing 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…
Kris McGuffie - Mar272024

The 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…
Ella Busch
GNET’s Research Digest
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