This report examines online youth‐led initiatives involved in challenging violent extremism (CVE). It focuses on the 2013–2023 online presence of 13 youth organisations, namely: KRIS (Philippines), Youth for Peace Movement Davao de Oro (Philippines), United Voice for Peace Network Inc. (Philippines), Global Peace Youth (Philippines), Students Against Violence Everywhere, Paiman…
Feelings of collective victimhood have been demonstrated to have a strong effect on ingroup bias, outgroup hostility and support for violence. The use of narratives stirring these feelings in far-right communications is especially concerning given their inclusion in the manifestos of several mass killers across Europe and North America. However,…
The relationship between hate crimes and terrorism remains a significant policy and academic concern. We provide the first empirical exploration of this relationship in New Zealand, drawing upon an original dataset of right-wing violent extremist (RWVE) incidents between 1997 and 2022. Employing analytical models of escalation and reaction we find evidence of connectivity between…
This article makes a case that CTS scholarship is always, necessarily, and specifically paradigmatically violent, even if one adopts CTS’ critiques of “mainstream” terrorism studies and understands CTS scholars to be normatively well-intended. In making that case, this article goes over different violences of CTS scholarship which have important impacts…
The association between 4chan and online extremist subcultures has seen increasing academic scrutiny—particularly following the 2019 Christchurch attack by a right-wing terrorist who frequented the anonymous forums. Gender-based extremism features as one (of many) critical subcultures that commands our academic attention, though few studies to date have sought to capture…
Our paper argues that Agent Based Modelling (ABM) can play an important role in evaluating interventions for counter radicalization and recruitment. Its advantages are due to three realities of research and practice in this area of study. First, field research on radicalization and recruitment raises significant ethical and human subjects…
Psychological theories of mobilization tend to focus on explaining people’s motivations for action, rather than mobilization (“activation”) processes. To investigate the online behaviors associated with mobilization, we compared the online communications data of 26 people who subsequently mobilized to right-wing extremist action and 48 people who held similar extremist views…
While numerous researchers have taken a macro approach to assessing the state of the field of terrorism studies, little has been done to better understand one vital sub-section: women and terrorism. Despite women’s active and supportive participation in terrorism and political violence, it is often repeated that they are overlooked,…
Risk assessment tools developed specifically for violent extremist offenders (VEOs) currently lack an explicit gender dimension. Practice and research suggest that such a dimension is necessary. Importantly, the implications are relevant not only for the risk assessment itself, but also in the broader context of violent extremism (VE) management. For…
This report investigates the rise of online anti-trans activism following two prominent attacks involving LGBTQ+ communities, namely the October 2022 attack on a gay bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the March 2023 shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee perpetrated by a trans man. We use a postcolonial approach, through…
In February 2022, Moonshot launched the Threat Bulletin, a monthly, subscription-based product providing analysis of U.S. Domestic Violent Extremism (DVE) online. In addition to other forms of analysis, the Bulletin provides a monthly assessment of online threats and encouragement to violence against over 20 different communities and groups who are often…
How do individuals who commit violent terrorist crimes differ from those who commit nonviolent terrorist crimes? In this study, we compare characteristics and pathways of violent (VTS) and nonviolent (NVTS) individuals prior to being suspected or convicted of crimes with terrorist intent (e.g. planning an attack, financing terrorism) in the…
