By Elizabeth Pearson In 2018 Twitter removed radical right activist turned self-styled ‘journalist’ Tommy Robinson from the platform. Five years later, he is back. What are the implications for British politics and extremism? Tommy Robinson is the latest of a group of extreme and anti-Islam actors Elon Musk has readmitted to Twitter/X. Robinson’s account reappeared…
Extremism
By Sean McCafferty & Kamil Yilmaz This analysis is Part 2 of a two-part post. Both are based on data gathered between 7 October and 9 October 2023 from two Telegram channels sharing propaganda related to the unfolding violence in Israel and Palestine: an official Telegram channel of the al-Qassam Brigades and an unofficial pro-Hamas…
By Sean McCafferty & Kamil Yilmaz On the morning of Saturday, 7 October 2023, a barrage of rockets targeted Israel from Gaza, followed by militants from a variety of Gaza-based terrorist organisations breaking through checkpoints and military positions around Gaza and entering Israel. This led to unprecedented violence against nearby Israeli military positions, kibbutzim, and…
By Simon a. Purdue Introduction Reproductive politics lie at the very heart of the gender ideology of the extreme-right. The ‘propagation of the race and nation’ has been a core tenet of social thought across the right-wing spectrum for the past two hundred years, and while within conservatism the racial rhetoric has been largely replaced…
By Seán Looney Introduction Kiwifarms was an internet forum known for its active targeting and harassment of trans people. In August 2022, the forum set its sights on Canadian Twitch Streamer and trans activist, Clara Sorrenti, also known as Keffals. The forum members called in the police to a fake bomb threat to her home and…
Introductions The intersection between gaming and violent extremism remains understudied and, often, its conclusions tend to be prematurely and problematically drawn. The overused tropes that gaming leads to violent behaviour or that all gamers are extremists, are just a few. This is not to say that the gaming space is without fault. Violent extremists are…
As one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors in the world, online video gaming has garnered far more attention of late – both positive and negative. In light of the exploitation of gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms by (violent) extremist actors and the gamification of violent extremism, there continues to be increasing concerns over threats of…
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 through statements, stories and appeals. There is, therefore, no shortage of studies addressing how terrorists exploit mass media, from the made-for-television spectaculars of…
Book Review by Seán Looney “Put starkly: Facebook livestreamed this massacre. While the terrorist was cast as a ‘lone gunman’ he was anything but alone.” The introduction to Editors Shirley Leitch and Paul Pickering’s book lays out the global impact of the Christchurch Attack succinctly. The book could be more accurately described as ‘Rethinking Social…
This article summarizes a recent study published in Criminal Justice Policy Review. By Ryan Scrivens, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Richard Frank There is an ongoing need for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to detect and assess online posting behaviors of violent extremists prior to their engagement in violence offline, but…
