Contextual
Resources
Once a government or tech company develops a definition of terrorism or violent extremism, it can be difficult to know how to apply these definitions to the variety of ways that terrorism and violent extremism manifests internationally and across online spaces.
This section of the site aims to highlight contextual resources on themes related to applying definitions to the online space. GIFCT funds the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) to bring forward actionable insights from experts and practitioners around the world to better inform and give context to tech companies, governments, practitioners and other stakeholders in this field. Insights are curated here under context-based themes.
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Ideology
Conspiracy Theory
Ideology
Ideologically motivated violent groups and movements take different forms in different parts of the world. In a post-9/11 framework, and particularly since the rise of ISIS, most terrorist studies and counter-extremism work have focussed on Islamist extremist groups. However, we also see modern trends of groups associated with white supremacy and neo-Naziism, misogyny-based violent extremist groups often referred to as being part of the “incel” community, far-left groups, and neo-nationalist groups such as the Hindutva movement and Buddhist extremist groups in Asia. Across international far-right violent extremist trends we see an increase in violence inducing conspiracy theory networks, including new trends revolving around anti-vaccination movements and even anti-5G movements that have an effect on technology companies.
Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy theories now exist across the far-right to far-left spectrum. Research shows te various effects in misleading the public. One such observable subcultural convergence of various conspiracy theories is against ‘the establishment,’ in this case liberal democracies. Among Spanish speaking audiences, conspiracy theories online are circulated and re-circulated in ways that are harder to identify and trace.
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25th September 2024The Dark Truth About Cats and Dogs: The Xenophobic Underbelly of the Springfield Conspiracy TheoryDr. Bethan Johnson
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11th March 2024‘Doing What God Designed Men To Do’: Red Pilled Christians’ Quest for Patriarchy, According to ScriptureElyse Willemsen
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30th November 2023The Great Replacement in the Manosphere: Implications for TerrorismAlexander Faehrmann and Dr Steven Zech
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04th September 2023Conspiracy Theories, Extremism and Violence: Why and When do Conspiracy Beliefs Lead to Violence?Jakob Guhl
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27th January 2023Mainstreaming Far-Right Conspiracies: Éric Zemmour’s Discourse as a Case StudySarah Cammarata
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23rd November 2022Cranking Out Violence: Conspiracies are Driving More Politically-Motivated AttacksErica Barbarossa and Isabela Bernardo
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12th September 2022Analysing Terrorgram Publications: A New Digital ZineMatthew Kriner and Bjørn Ihler
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31st August 2022The Time for e-Democracy is Now: How a Digitally Functional Democracy Could Prevent Extremist AccelerationismJon Deedman