• Criticism Mount of U.K. Counter-Extremism Programs

    There is a “fundamental mismatch” between the threat posed by Islamist terrorism and the attention afforded to it by Prevent, the U.K. government’s counter-extremism program, according to a new report.The report finds that despite the finding of the government’s independent reviewer that the United Kingdom faces the greatest terroristic threat from Islamists, far more resources are being devoted to other forms of extremism.

  • FBI Works to Increase Hate Crimes Awareness

    The United States recorded nearly 7,500 hate crimes in 2020, the highest level in more than a decade. As eye-popping as the yearly total may be, researchers note the vast majority of hate crimes are never reported to police. In October, the FBI launched a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report hate crimes to law enforcement.

  • Why Right-Wing Extremists Love the Unabomber

    Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, was an American domestic terrorist whose 17-year bombing campaign killed three people and injured 23 others. Seeking to protect wilderness and destroy technology, he targeted scientists and businessmen. Kiernan Christ writes “Kaczynski’s contemporary influence, however, is not strongest among environmental activists. Rather, his manifesto and ideology have found a home on far-right websites, where Kaczynski is cited as a key radicalizing influence and thought leader in spaces generally extremely hostile to modern environmentalism.”

  • Britain’s Security Officials Fear More Lone Wolf Attacks in Wake of MP’s Murder

    The man held for the fatal stabbing last week of a British lawmaker had been referred to the British government’s anti-extremism program, called Prevent, because of his radical Islamist views, but the country’s security services, including MI5 - Britain’s domestic intelligence agency - had not deemed him a serious threat requiring monitoring, confirmed British officials.

  • Institutions May Be Key to Countering Extremism in the Military

    My colleagues and I outlined a plan to combat extremism in the military. It focuses on prevention over law enforcement by leveraging existing support programs for those at risk of joining extremist groups.

  • Golden Dawn is Down, but Far Right Rises Again in Greece

    A year after the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn was banned, other nationalist groups are cropping up across Greece. Extremist attacks have become more frequent in the past month.

  • Lawmakers Press TikTok, DHS, and FBI for Information on Identifying, Preventing Spread of Extremist Content Online

    Although social media companies have taken steps to address the proliferation of domestic extremist content online, continued reports have identified that violent groups continue to operate on the platforms, and racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs), anti-government and conspiracy-related content and targeted ads remain on these platforms.

  • Face-to-Face Propaganda Is Most Effective to Influence Public Sympathy to ISIS

    Face-to-face connections are far more likely to gain new followers for the ISIS Islamic terrorist organization than messaging in traditional or online media, according to a new study.

  • A Short Introduction: The Involuntary Celibate Sub-Culture

    On 12 August 2021, Jake Davison embarked on a killing spree that resulted in the deaths of five people before taking his own life. Davison’s digital footprint on social media platforms contains numerous examples of misogynistic and anti-feminist attitudes, as well as references to the incel subculture. What are incels? And should we consider their ideology an extremist one related to the far-right?

  • More Violent Pro-ISIS, Extreme Right Content on Facebook & Instagram

    The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which monitors the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence, reports that violent Islamist and extreme right content continues to be available on social media platforms.

  • Anthrax Attacks: 20 Years On

    Twenty years ago this month the United States experienced the scary anthrax letter attacks, which targeted major media outlets and members of Congress.

  • California Biosecurity Bill Safeguards Bioeconomy and Public Health

    Biosecurity experts say that California has the opportunity to reduce the risk posed by synthetic smallpox — and other novel biological threats —while keeping California’s bioeconomy innovative and strong.

  • Only Playing: Extreme-Right Gamification

    Extremist ideas inspire violence in a few, but for the many, participation increasingly resembles a consequence-free game separate from reality. “As technologies develop further, either in the form of Facebook’s metaverse or other forms of mixed or augmented reality that blur the line between online and offline, the potential disconnect between play and real-world violence is only going to grow more acute,” experts say.

  • Leader of Atomwaffen Extremist Group Convicted of Federal Felonies, Conspiracy

    The leader of the extremist Atomwaffen group was convicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle of five federal felonies for his conspiracy to send threatening posters to journalists and employees of the Anti-Defamation League.

  • Two Decades After 9/11: What We’ve Learned About Public Health Preparedness and Leadership

    In the United States, 743,452 “excess” (potentially preventable) deaths occurred from COVID-19 between February 2020 and September 4th, 2021, according to the CDC National Center for Health Statistics. This figure exceeds the number of excess deaths that occurred during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, which was caused by an even deadlier virus.