Digital media platforms have been implicated in the recent rise of far-right extremism. This study proposes that these platforms afford emotional processes that lie at the core of far-right movements. Drawing on Randall Collins’ interactional framework and the literature on cultural trauma, we investigate the emotional processes triggered by traumatic experiences…
his publication showcases the results of Hedayah’s program on Supporting Families in Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria conducted during 2019-2022 in partnership with Neem Institute. Through a series of capacity-building workshops, the program aimed to contribute towards overall peacebuilding efforts in Northeast Nigeria through enhancing the capacities of 26 recipients…
During the last decades, new forms of men’s rights activism have emerged, commonly referred to as the ‘manosphere’. This loosely connected, misogynistic online movement particularly attracts young men. Its shared ideology is the Red Pill, a neoconservative ideology that adopts essentialist notions of gender and sexuality, and selectively employs evolutionary…
Harmful actors use an ever-expanding range of digital spaces to spread harmful ideologies and undermine human rights and democracy online. Understanding their evolving ideas, online networks and activities is critical to developing a more comprehensive evidence base to inform effective and proportional efforts to counter them. But creating that evidence…
Harmful actors use an ever-expanding range of digital spaces to spread harmful ideologies and undermine human rights and democracy online. Understanding their evolving ideas, online networks and activities is critical to developing a more comprehensive evidence base to inform effective and proportional efforts to counter them. But creating that evidence…
This policy paper was produced as part of the project Digital Policy Lab (DPL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. As part of the DPL, ISD organised working group meetings on the topic of online gender-based violence between May and June 2023. The working group comprised DPL members representing national ministries…
This policy paper was produced as part of the project Digital Policy Lab (DPL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. As part of the DPL, ISD organised working group meetings on the topic of online gender-based violence between May and June 2023. The working group comprised DPL members representing national ministries…
This article explores how counterterrorism knowledge practices affect the groups they study. We argue that these practices typically construct terrorist groups as ontologically stable and organizationally rational, which makes them appear familiar to, and so governable by, counterterrorism organizations. We show that by excluding prevalent local knowledge, Western counterterrorism policy…
This policy paper was produced as part of the project Digital Policy Lab (DPL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. As part of the DPL, ISD organised working group meetings on the topic of online gender-based violence between May and June 2023. The working group comprised DPL members representing national ministries…
Once lauded for liberating audiences from their passive state by granting voice, the digital public sphere today increasingly resembles a cacophony of disjointed voices datafied for the gain of giant tech firms. Instead of bemoaning the co-optation of users’ activity, we might find it timely to reconsider the possibility that…
This policy paper was produced as part of the project Digital Policy Lab (DPL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. The responsibility for the content lies exclusively with ISD Germany. The DPL is an inter-governmental working group focused on charting the policy path forward to prevent and counter disinformation, hate and extremism….
Extremist, hate and disinformation actors are increasingly exploiting not just major online platforms, but also a wide range of smaller and medium-sized platforms across the online ecosystem. Over the past 18 months, ISD and CASM Technology have been conducting research, funded by Omidyar Network, aimed at monitoring harmful online activity…
