• Education and Awareness Are Key to Stopping Online Radicalization

    The current battlefield for terrorism is not a faraway country but the computers and phones right next to us. Terrorists have taken advantage of this technology to allow conflict to transcend its geographic borders. They know that reaching one sympathetic viewer can create catastrophic consequences in support of their agenda. The social network is now an environment where everyone is vulnerable to encountering propaganda or misinformation online, making everyone susceptible to radicalization.

  • The ‘Incelosphere’ and Incel Violence: A Worsening Problem?

    Should incel ideology be considered as extremist? Here is a summary of the research on how violent extremist language has increased over time as different online platforms have emerged and shutdown within the incel online ecosystem.

  • Major Foreign Terror Attack on U.S. “Almost Inconceivable” Now

    Foreign terrorist groups, including some Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates, may have the desire to launch major attacks on U.S. soil, but decades of counterterrorism work have made carrying out such an operation close to impossible at the moment, a top U.S. homeland security official said.

  • MI5 Increases Terror Threat Level in Northern Ireland to “Severe”

    There has been increased dissident republican activity in Northern Ireland, including the attempted murder of a senior police officer last month. MI5 believed it had dealt a major blow to the New IRA in 2020 when police arrested nine suspected leaders of the organization, but the New IRA appears to have regrouped.

  • Hard-Right Social Media Activities Lead to Civil Unrest: Study

    Does activity on hard-right social media lead to civil unrest? With the emergence and persistent popularity of hard-right social media platforms such as Gab, Parler, and Truth Social, it is important to understand the impact they are having on society and politics.

  • Terrorist Attacks More Deadly, Despite Decline in the West

    The tenth annual edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) reveals that terrorist attacks are more deadly, with 26% more people dying in each incident - the first rise in lethality in five years. After substantial increase in terrorism activity between 2016 and 2019, progress has plateaued with both attacks and deaths remaining roughly the same since 2019. The number of countries recording a death ranged from 43 in 2020 to 42 in 2022.

  • Conspiracy Theories, Holocaust Education, and Other Predictors of Antisemitic Belief

    A new research explored a variety of topics to better understand which factors are linked with holding greater numbers of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel attitudes. Understanding the relative predictive power of each of these variables will have significant implications in developing strategies aimed at ameliorating antisemitism.

  • Understanding Antisemitism on Twitter After Musk

    New research has found a major and sustained spike in antisemitic posts on Twitter since the company’s takeover by Elon Musk on October 27, 2022. Researchers found that the volume of English-language antisemitic tweets more than doubled in the period following Musk’s takeover.

  • Preventing Violence in Schools: Encouraging Students to Report Threats

    One of the most consistent findings in research on school shootings is that someone knew an attack was possible and didn’t report it. A recent RAND study looked at how schools can better encourage students to come forward when they see or hear something that should concern them. Its top recommendations: tip lines, training, and a lot more trust.

  • “Prevent” Review: Why We Need a New – and Clearer – Definition of Islamist Extremism

    An independent review of the UK counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent, has recommended that the government increase its efforts to tackle Islamist extremism. One fundamental question this review poses is what exactly “Islamist extremism” is. This matters because many professionals (including teachers, lecturers, social workers, health workers and prison guards) are now legally obliged to watch out for it. A clearer definition is possible.

  • Extremist Propaganda Soars to All-Time High in 2022

    In 2022, there has been a significant increase in racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist (RMVE) propaganda efforts, which included the distribution of racist and antisemitic fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, and posters, as well as laser projections - with a total of 6,751 cases reported in 2022, compared to 4,876 in 2021.

  • Extremists Co-opt Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

    In the aftermath of the February 3, 2023, freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a range of misinformation and unfounded claims has emerged as extremists and conspiracy theorists leverage the event for their own political and ideological gain.

  • Garland Would Not Object to Designating Wagner a Foreign Terrorist Organization

    Founded in 2014, the Wagner Group is run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a sanctioned oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. With an estimated 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, the majority recruited from Russia’s prisons, the paramilitary force has become a veritable arm of the Russian military in Ukraine.

  • U.S. Creates New Antisemitism Task Force

    Four out of 10 Jews in the US feel less secure than they did a year ago. Faced with an uptick in antisemitism, the White House responds with an action plan.

  • Risk of Terrorist Acts Tied to Location, Demographic, and Social Characteristics

    A new study combines two existing analytical tools—risk terrain modeling and conjunctive analysis—to link location and risk of terrorism. This approach identifies areas of high risk, providing opportunities for more effective interventions.