About VOX-Pol

The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence (NoE) is a European Union Framework Programme 7 (FP7)-funded academic research network focused on researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of Violent Online Political Extremism and responses to it.

VOX-Pol’s interest is in exploring how violent extremist politics plays out ‘online,’ by which is generally meant the Internet. In terms of the type of politics being referred to, it is political activity situated at the outermost ends (i.e. the extremities) of any political spectrum. The centre of any such spectrum is generally held to be moderate; extremism may thus be conceived as the opposite, in either direction, of moderation. The problem with this approach however is that it is highly dependent on identification of the ‘centre’ (i.e. moderates), which in itself can be a highly subjective decision. The qualifier ‘violent’ is therefore employed here to describe VOX-Pol’s interest, which is in those that employ or advocate physical violence against other individuals and groups to forward their political objectives.

Blog, News & Events

Blog
All
Blog
  • Supreme Court unlikely to ‘break the internet’ over Google,...
    By Michael W. Carroll, American University “These are not, like, the nine greatest experts on the internet,” noted Justice Elena Kagan – a reference to herself and fellow colleagues on the Supreme...
  • VOX-Pol Members Attend Major Counter-Terrorism Conference at Europol HQ
    VOX-Pol Coordinator, Professor Stuart Macdonald, and VOX-Pol Members Dr Ashley Mattheis and Dr Joe Whittaker presented at the fourth Annual Conference of the European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC) Advisory Network on Terrorism...
  • The Use of Heuristics in the Buffalo Shooter’s Manifesto
    By Michael Waltman The purpose of this entry is to describe how the nature of hate speech contributes to violence and extremism in a way that would be helpful to those who...
  • Le Compte-rendu REASSURE: Sommaire Exécutif
    LIRE EN ALLEMAND   LIRE EN ANGLAIS Le compte-rendu récent de VOX-Pol présente les conclusions d’entretiens approfondis du projet REASSURE (Recherche, Sécurité, Sûreté et Résilience) de 39 chercheurs en extrémisme et terrorisme en...
  • The Researcher Security, Safety, and Resilience Report: A Summary
    READ IN GERMAN   READ IN FRENCH VOX-Pol's new report presents findings from the REASSURE (Researcher, Security, Safety, and Resilience) project's in-depth interviews with 39 online extremism and terrorism researchers. Based at universities,...
  • Der REASSURE Report: Eine Kurzfassung
    Auf Englisch lesen   Auf Französisch lesen Der neue VOX-Pol Report präsentiert Erkenntnisse des REASSURE (engl. Researcher, Security, Safety, and Resilience) Projekts, in dem ausführliche Interviews mit 39 Extremismus- und Terrorismus-Forschern abgehalten wurden....
  • VOX-Pol Newsletter 10(1) March 2023
    Welcome to Volume 10, Issue 1 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. NEW VOX-Pol PUBLICATION: REASSURE VOX-Pol is pleased to present the latest report in the VOX-Pol publication series, titled Online Extremism and Terrorism Researchers’ Security,...
  • New VOX-Pol Publication: Extremism and Terrorism Researchers’ Security, Safety,...
    VOX-Pol is pleased to present the latest report in its publication series, titled Online Extremism and Terrorism Researchers’ Security, Safety, and Resilience: Findings from the Field and authored by Elizabeth Pearson,...
  • Project Launched to Drive Awareness of New Terrorist Content...
    Three VOX-Pol Member Institutions: Swansea University, Dublin City University, and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will be part of a consortium to drive greater awareness of and compliance with the European...
  • Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Imagined Communities in its Proto-State
    By Aaron Y. Zelin and Sarah Cahn In recent years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been attempting to develop its own polity. This process has not been linear and there has been...
  • The Pitfalls of Contemporary Terrorism Studies’ Discourse
    by Arie Perliger One of the most favorable habits of scholars of terrorism is self-reflection on their field. Numerous op-eds and articles are published every year, striving to reflect on the development...
  • Contrary to the Washington Post’s Headline, White Americans aren’t...
    by Ye Bin Won and Meghan Conroy In 2014, the Post reported on a study that found that almost 60% of Americans surveyed admitted that they did not watch, read, or hear...
  • Reflections on the Independent Review of Prevent
    By Andrew Whiting   First announced in January 2019, last week saw the publication of the long-awaited independent review of Prevent led by Lord Shawcross. Prevent is controversial and this review has had...
  • #Jailbait and "In a videogame ofc": Transgression and violent...
    by Greta Jasser Incel forums are online spaces with little to no moderation against violent and harmful speech. Yet, despite the almost non-existent community guidelines, users aim to debate, break or circumvent them,...
  • Far-Right Lone-Actor Terrorist Attacks and Violent Extremist use of...
    By Sean McCafferty This analysis will focus on the role of file-sharing platforms in disseminating propaganda linked to violent far-right lone-actor attacks, examining the recent Bratislava perpetrator as a case study. A...
  • VOX-Pol Lecture Series: Cross-Platform Approaches to Countering Terrorism and...
    The VOX-Pol Lecture Series, Spring Term, begins on Wednesday 15 February, at 3pm UK time. Dr Erin Saltman will give an online presentation titled Cross-Platform Approaches to Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism...
  • Proto-State Media Systems: The Digital Rise of of Al-Qaeda...
    Book Review by Andrew Glazzard Terrorism is, as we know, propaganda in word and deed. Terrorists communicate symbolically (through their choice of targets, or their methods of attack) as well as directly...
  • VOX-Pol Workshop on Content Moderation and (Violent) Extremism
    VOX-Pol Workshop on Content Moderation and (Violent) Extremism, Thursday 16 February, 11.00-12.30 (GMT) To register your attendance at this online workshop, please email info@voxpol.eu and you will receive a Zoom link. Content takedowns...

VOX-Pol Publications

Go to Publications

Online Library

Go to Library

Partners

Click a partner to read their profile

Dublin City University

Located just north of Dublin city, Dublin City University (DCU) is a young, dynamic, and ambitious university with a distinctive mission to transform lives and societies through education, research, and innovation. Ranked one of the ‘Top 50 Under 50’ universities worldwide, DCU delivers more than 200 programmes to over 12,000 students across four faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Health, Engineering and Computing and DCU Business School. The School of Law and Government in DCU is renowned for its undergraduate and graduate International Relations programme, with a strong academic team specialising in a variety of subjects ranging from law, development, and conflict resolution to gender relations, electoral politics, and violent political extremism and terrorism. The School is a contributor to DCU’s Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR), which works with key civil society partners and government to make its research more accessible to scholars and practitioners alike.

Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction

The Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction at Dublin City University, Ireland, brings together authoritative analysis of the Northern Ireland peace process with expertise on the international politics of regions in conflict and in post-conflict rebuilding from Kosovo to Kashmir and also on thematic issues such as terrorism on the internet, mediation, gender equality, and development-security linkages. We offer cutting edge taught programmes and work with key civil society partners and governments so that our evidence-based knowledge is both relevant and accessible to those involved in practice.

School of Law and Government

The School of Law and Government offers challenging and supportive taught programmes, which assist students in pursuing their personal goals. We are engaged in cutting edge research, published in the best academic journals. We are committed to a strong working relationship with government agencies, professional bodies, industry and civil society organisations interested in research and policy development.

King’s College London

King’s College London (KCL) is among the world’s 20 leading universities and is one of the oldest in England (estbd.1829). Located at the heart of London, it is a multi-faculty, research-led university with nearly 26,000 students and over 7,000 staff. Over 10,000 students are postgraduates from more than 140 countries. KCL is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, learning and understanding in the service of society, both in the UK and internationally. The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at KCL’s Department of War Studies produces high quality rigorous research on radicalisation and political violence with the aim to educate the public and help policymakers and practitioners find more intelligent solutions in dealing with these issues. In addition to research, ICSR facilitates dialogue, and nurtures leadership through fellowships.

King’s College – International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

ICSR’s mission is to bring together knowledge and leadership. Producing first class, rigorous research, our aim is to educate the public and help policymakers and practitioners find more intelligent solutions in dealing with radicalisation and political violence.

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is one of the world’s leading universities. It teaches and conducts research across the natural, medical, and social sciences and humanities. The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a department in the University’s Social Science Division. Research in the Institute is arranged into four themes: governance and democracy, everyday life, the social shaping of technology, and science and learning. The Institute has 18 full-time academic staff, including political scientists, sociologists, economists, geographers and anthropologists. It also teaches c.20 doctoral students and 20+ MSc students. The OII is the only major department in a top-ranked international university to offer multi-disciplinary social science degree programmes focusing on the Internet. The Institute’s research projects are grounded in a determination to measure, understand and explain the Internet’s multi-faceted interactions.

Oxford – Oxford Internet Institute

OII research focuses on individual, collective and institutional behaviour on the internet. Now that digital connections are embedded in almost every aspect of everyday life, such research is crucial to understand the social, economic and political world.

Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek)

TNO was founded in 1932 as a government research laboratory with support from the Dutch government and industry. TNO’s scope is now much wider; it has developed into one of the leading Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) in Europe. TNO’s research and expertise make an important contribution to the competitiveness of companies and organisations, and to the economy and quality of life as a whole. TNO’s Mission and Strategy are to apply scientific knowledge with the aim of strengthening the innovative power of industry and government. TNO concentrates its activities on five themes: healthy living; industrial innovation; defence, security and safety; energy; and urbanisation. TNO has considerable expertise in the area of online radicalisation; it is coordinator of the FP7 project SAFIRE and does research on radicalisation determinants for the Dutch Ministry of Interior. TNO also carries out research in the area of social media monitoring, such as its contribution to the FP7 project Virtuoso.

Media & Network Services

Human Behaviour and Organisational Innovation

Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) (Institut Für Friedensforschung Und Sicherheitspolitik an Der Universität Hamburg)

The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) is an independent research institute at the University of Hamburg. The Institute’s name reflects the central hypothesis underlying its work: ensuring peace and providing security are two sides of the same coin—they cannot be pursued in isolation from each other. The Institute’s current research programme focuses on the trans-nationalisation of political violence. It is currently running a series of research projects in the area of terrorism and political violence, among which are TERAS-INDEX (Terrorism and Radicalisation – Indicators for the Impact of External Factors); Modeling Islamist and Right-wing Radicalisation in Europe; Subjecting Freedom: Analysing Arguments in Favour of Restricting Human and Civil Rights Under the Pretext of Combating Terrorism in the USA, EU, and Russia; and Piracy and Maritime Terrorism as a Challenge for Maritime Trade Security.

Central European University

Budapest’s Central European University (CEU), established in 1991, has more than 1500 students from 100 countries and 300 faculty members from more than 30 countries. CEU’s Centre for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) is a hub for media and communication policy and research with a mission to advance media and communication scholarship in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. The CMDS was initiated in 2004 through the joint efforts of CEU and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. CMDS produces scholarly and practice-oriented research addressing academic, policy, and civil society needs. CMDS research promotes pluralism, participation and the democratic potential of the media, and investigates the complexities of media and communication in transition. CMDS research specifically focuses on media and communication policy, online free expression, responses to hate speech, communicative rights, privacy, and civil society.

CEU – Centre for Media, Data and Society

The Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) at the School of Public Policy of CEU is a research center for the study of media, communication, and information policy and its impact on society and practice. CMDS produces scholarly and practice-oriented research addressing academic, policy and civil society needs, provides trainings and organizes workshops, lectures and conferences on current developments in the field, and CMDS researchers offer courses at CEU.

University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam (UvA), established in 1632, is the third oldest university in the Netherlands. It is also the Netherland’s largest university by enrollment, and is one of the largest research universities in Europe with 29,783 students, 4,629 staff, and an endowment of €613.5 million. UvA’s Intelligent Systems Lab (ISLA) performs fundamental, applied and spin-off research. ISLA defines intelligence as observing and learning; observing the world by video, still pictures, signals and text and abstracting knowledge or decisions to act from these observations. Comprising of three research groups, ISLA has around 20 permanent staff members, a similar number of post-docs and engineers, and around 40 PhD students doing research on the theory, practice and implementation of multimedia information analysis. Their research portfolios include image and text search engines, learning from sensory data and indexing of large repositories. For text and visual media the Lab consistently achieves top-ranking performance in international benchmark competitions.

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIITD)

The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIITD) was created as a State University by an act of Delhi Government (The IIIT Delhi Act, 2007) empowering it to do research and development and to grant degrees. The mission of IIITD is to be a global centre of excellence in Information Technology education, training, and research. Its twin aims are: to carry out advanced research and development in information and software technologies in specific domain areas and to train and educate, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, engineers of outstanding ability who can become innovators and new product creators.

University College London (UCL)

University College London (UCL) was established in 1826 to open up education in England for the first time to students of all races, classes and religions. Today, UCL is the top-rated university in the UK for research strength and won the largest funding allocation from the UK research councils in 2013. The university also attracts the third highest number of academic citations per faculty in the UK, demonstrating the relevance and standards of its research. UCL’s Department of Security and Crime Science is the first university department in the world devoted specifically to reducing crime and other risks to personal and national security. It does this through teaching, research, public policy analysis and by the dissemination of evidence-based information on crime reduction and security enhancement. The department plays a pivotal role in bringing together politicians, scientists, designers and practitioners to examine patterns in crime and security threats and to find practical methods to disrupt these patterns. The department is widely recognised for its knowledge transfer and exploitation activities, and the impact that its research has had on real world crime problems.

UCL – Department of Security and Crime Science

From the start we have had a clear mission and a distinctive approach – crime science – to achieving that mission. Our goal is no less than to change the way that academics, policy makers and practitioners think about and respond to crime and security issues.

Dublin City University

Located just north of Dublin city, Dublin City University (DCU) is a young, dynamic, and ambitious university with a distinctive mission to transform lives and societies through education, research, and innovation. Ranked one of the ‘Top 50 Under 50’ universities worldwide, DCU delivers more than 200 programmes to over 12,000 students across four faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Health, Engineering and Computing and DCU Business School. The School of Law and Government in DCU is renowned for its undergraduate and graduate International Relations programme, with a strong academic team specialising in a variety of subjects ranging from law, development, and conflict resolution to gender relations, electoral politics, and violent political extremism and terrorism. The School is a contributor to DCU’s Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR), which works with key civil society partners and government to make its research more accessible to scholars and practitioners alike.