The report Right- and left-wing violent extremist abuse of digital technologies in South America, Africa and Asia, jointly published by UNICRI and VOX-Pol, investigates the underexplored phenomenon of right- and left-wing violent extremist groups in the Global South and their abuse of digital technologies. As technology evolves at an unprecedented pace, violent extremist actors increasingly exploit digital platforms, posing complex and multifaceted threats to national and global security.

The report highlights how violent extremists are leveraging digital technologies for external and internal messaging, financing, and even offensive cyber operations. These threats range from the use of alternative or fringe social media, decentralised web platforms, gaming spaces, and live-streaming technologies, to more sophisticated operations such as Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure.

While significant research has been conducted on groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) or Al-Qaida, there has been comparatively little attention to right- and left-wing violent extremist activity in regions such as South America, Africa and Asia. This report seeks to fill that gap, analysing the online activities, narratives, and potential cyber capabilities of these actors.