The pace and scale of technological development is expanding the ways propaganda is disseminated and the types of people and groups who are vulnerable to violent extremism. At the same time, emergent online violent extremist subcultures and movements are becoming ever more cross-platform, transnational, and normalised. Consequently, the way practitioners, policymakers, and scholars conceptualise terrorism and violent extremism online is changing as the harms stemming from online radicalisation expand beyond performative violence, and the lines between antisocial radicalism and violent extremism are blurred. These shifting dynamics make it harder to distinguish meaningful threats (‘signal’) from background activity (‘noise’) online. This necessitates better methods for threat assessment, prevention, and the targeting of effective interventions.

This year, AVERT is pleased to collaborate with the Vox-Pol Network of Excellence and the Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference to deliver the symposium.

AVERT welcomes proposals that provide insights on how these changes impact understanding of online radicalism’s harms, risk assessment practices, and policy responses. Proposals that include collaborations with practitioners or industry, reflect on or offer policy and practice-based guidance, or otherwise demonstrate policy and/or practice relevance are especially encouraged.

Venue, format and key dates