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.
Filters
Regional Trends
Africa
Islamist Extremism
Regional Trends
While experts can point to overarching global trends in terrorism and violent extremism, we also know that there are significant regional and country-based variables in how these groups recruit, mobilize, propagandize, and coordinate attacks. There are also varying international trends in the types of platforms terrorists and violent extremists use in different parts of the world, their overarching aims and the ways their aims manifest online. GNET includes expert insights from academics and practitioners all over the world, feeding in the nuances and adversarial shifts they report on.
Africa
Throughout Africa, insights can aid in contextualizing online violent extremism in both continental and country specific ways. Relevant research presents useful continent-wide explorations of violent extremist activity and ideology, such as comparative analyses of the Sahelian Jihadi propaganda ecosystem. Additionally, there has been a focus in the research on groups such as the latest migrational shifts across violent Salafi groups in Mauritania, the integration of Tunisian violent Islamist groups into ISIS, or the links between the latest Algerian political movement and historic terrorist groups in the country.
Islamist Extremism
Looking at Islamist violent extremism, insights fascilitate in contextualizing the overall violently motivated ideology and specific groups. Relevant research focusing on violent Islamist extemism presents useful explorations of the groups’ online activity such as the ways in which they circumvent online safeguards, along with wider exposés on global online activity. Additionally, research hones in on particular groups such as the Islamic State (DAESH), the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, among others.
-
22nd January 2024Harnessing Peacetech for Socio-Political Resilience in BeninJaynisha Patel
-
05th July 2023Drone Use by Violent Extremist Organisations in Africa: The Case of Al-ShabaabAna Aguilera
-
15th April 2021The Conversation between Salafi-Jihadists, the Hirak, and the Algerian StateSammie Wicks
-
15th March 2021Leaving the World of ‘Impiety’: French Salafi Settlers in MauritaniaBrune Descamps
-
27th October 2020Digital Dunes and Shrublands: A Comparative Introduction to the Sahelian Jihadi Propaganda EcosystemHéni Nsaibia, Rida Lyammouri