On 2 May 2022, First Monday published a Special Issue exploring societal resilience to online polarisation and extremism, co-edited by Amy-Louise Watkin (VOX-Pol and USW), Vivian Gerrand (Deakin University), and Maura Conway (VOX-Pol and DCU).
The seven articles in this special issue were selected from those delivered at a series of workshops undertaken by the European Commission H2020-funded Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism (BRaVE) Project in 2020–2021.
Understanding polarisation and (violent) extremism as distinct, interlinked, phenomena, the collected articles ask how online platforms can be mobilised to disrupt and reframe ideologies underpinning polarising and extremist messaging. To what extent can social media platforms serve as critical resources that contribute to building pro-social resilience? And, how can we build on what has been effective so far in terms of building online resilience, including what else might social media platforms and their users do to enhance what has already been found to be effective?
The subjects covered in the Special Issue include memes, gaming and conspiracy theories. The Issue also features in-depth discussions of recommender systems, social capital and polarisation. You can read all the articles in full and for free, HERE.
This work, as part of the BRaVE Project, has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number H2020/822189/EU. VOX-Pol lead institution DCU was a BRaVE partner.