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
Tactical Exploitation of Online Services
Humour
Tactical Exploitation of Online Services
Online terrorism and violent extremism comes in many forms and platforms are equally exploited in a variety of ways. Terrorist and violent extremist groups and individuals, like average users, use a mixture of platforms to further their aims. This cross-platform approach facilitates in storing content, holding private or confidential conversations, e-commerce for buying and selling goods as well as fundraising, recruitment, and the amplification of propaganda and messaging to the public. These signals, trends and adversarial shifts around this exploitation are highlighted by global experts.
Humour
Humor and its appeals in everyday communication and content has not been ignored by terrorist and extremist movements online. Research has identified satire and sarcastic discourse within Islamist extremist content, but especially right-wing extremist content employing memes and GIFs. This use of humor allows groups to disguise hate speech from moderation frameworks and to use online games for recruitment and promoting violence.
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28th July 2023Schrödinger’s Joke: The Weaponisation of Irony and Humour in the Alt-RightErin Stoner
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25th August 2022Humour in Jihadi Rhetoric: A Comparative Analysis of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, TTP, and the TalibanWeeda Mehran
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28th July 2022The Writing on the (Facebook) Wall: A Revised Assessment of Posting and Support for Violence by Pro-Rittenhouse Meme CreatorsHampton Stall and Hari Prasad
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18th July 2022Examining White Supremacist and Militant Accelerationism Trends on TikTokAbbie Richards
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30th September 2021“He Looks Like a Clown”: Why is the Far-Right Mocking Fascists on Reddit?Barbara Molas
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