To prevent radicalisation and violent extremism, many European countries have adopted a multiagency approach, consisting of both police, teachers and social workers. Such strategies have caused concern for a securitization of social policy and stigmatization of vulnerable groups. This study aims at gaining insight into how Norwegian social workers involved…

This study presents selective moral disengagement as a paradigm for analyzing extremist marketing messages and developing effective countermessages. Selective moral disengagement explicates eight mechanisms common to extremist media content that can influence seemingly ordinary people to support and commit atrocities. Through a qualitative content analysis, the author investigates the use…

While victims of terrorism undergo significant harm, there is currently no specific legal framework addressing their right to reparation. Certain regional provisions focus on establishing compensation funds under national law but do not explicitly acknowledge an existing right to reparation which includes restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non…

In its resolution 2462 (2019), the Security Council encourages competent national authorities, in particular financial intelligence units and intelligence services, to continue to establish effective partnerships with the private sector, including financial institutions, the financial technology industry and internet and social media companies, in particular with regards to the evolution of…

This report provides a summary of the expert conference “In the Blind Spot – Right-Wing Extremists on Alternative and Established Platforms“, which took place in Berlin in September 2023 as part of the “Countering Radicalisation in Right-Wing Extremist Online Subcultures” programme funded by the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ). The…

This report is the fifth edition of the annual review of online jihadist propaganda. It analyses the major trends and developments in the propaganda of the most prominent Sunni jihadist organisations – the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ) – as well as their branches and offshoots. The review…

This practitioner report provides a brief introduction and overview of some key considerations around autism in extremism contexts.

This article introduces and reports the psychometric properties of the Hate Behaviours Scale (HBS), which assesses individual intentions to engage in a range of violent and non-violent hateful behaviours against various target groups. Three independent U.S. adult samples (total n = 3524) were used to gather data on the scale and associated covariates…

Al-Shabaab has been evicted – at least temporarily – from scores of towns and villages in the central Somali Federal Member States of Hirshabelle and Galmudug since summer 2022. While this began as an ‘organic’ uprising led by clan militias (the Ma’awisley) against the insurgent’s excessive demands for ‘taxation’ and…

This research was conducted in the context of a Somali state offensive in the Federal Member States of Hirshabelle and Galmudug that generated more territorial gains from al-Shabaab than any other military campaign since the mid-2010s. Such conditions provide fertile ground for disengagement from the insurgents, with many ex-members enrolled…

The Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* (1), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) represent a post-conflict region (2) facing various forms of violent extremism. At present, the Western Balkans face most problems with Islamist extremism (IE) and right-wing extremism (RWE). Between 2012 and 2016, more than 1 000 individuals…

In an ever-evolving technological landscape, digital disinformation is on the rise, as are its political consequences. In this paper, we explore the creation and distribution of synthetic media by malign actors, specifically a form of artificial intelligence-machine learning (AI/ML) known as the deepfake. Individuals looking to incite political violence are…