This report investigates the rise of online anti-trans activism following two prominent attacks involving LGBTQ+ communities, namely the October 2022 attack on a gay bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the March 2023 shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee perpetrated by a trans man. We use a postcolonial approach, through…
In February 2022, Moonshot launched the Threat Bulletin, a monthly, subscription-based product providing analysis of U.S. Domestic Violent Extremism (DVE) online. In addition to other forms of analysis, the Bulletin provides a monthly assessment of online threats and encouragement to violence against over 20 different communities and groups who are often…
How do individuals who commit violent terrorist crimes differ from those who commit nonviolent terrorist crimes? In this study, we compare characteristics and pathways of violent (VTS) and nonviolent (NVTS) individuals prior to being suspected or convicted of crimes with terrorist intent (e.g. planning an attack, financing terrorism) in the…
This Policy Brief outlines recommendations for the effective implementation of preventing/countering violent extremism programmes in conflict settings that draw on lessons learned from Afghanistan as part of RUSI’s Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism (STRIVE) Afghanistan programme.
This Emerging Insights paper aims to explore how the same ideas and themes that are used by IS-K for recruitment and for ‘gluing’ members to the organisation might be recrafted for those members who are disengaging. The paper is primarily based on data collected during the STRIVE Afghanistan project, which…
This comparative case study of the Freedom Movement in Sweden and the Freedom Convoy in Canada provides insights into the processes of transnationalization involved in the (re)production of far-right narratives around the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on the online media of these protest movements we explore the extent to which the…
The new report is a deep examination of ‘AI extremism’. Like past technological progress, AI will indeed be – in fact already is – used in various ways to bolster extremist agendas. Identifying the many opportunities for action that come with a range of AI models, and linking them with…
Are extremists (incels, neo-nazis, and the like) characteristically answerable for their moral and political convictions? Is it necessary to offer them reasoned arguments against their views, or is it instead appropriate to bypass that kind of engagement? Discussion of these questions has centered around the putative epistemic autonomy of extremists….
The far right is increasingly relying on visual and less extreme online communication, for instance by using memes, to strategically mainstream their ideology. The use of humor in particular renders their communication more relatable to a mainstream audience. However, little is known about the actual impacts of the different content…
Stigmatizing behavior and a lack of supportive behavior can act as a barrier to successfully reintegrating terrorist offenders, potentially resulting in reoffending. As such, there have been several efforts to understand how to build community support for reintegration of terrorist offenders, for example through community engagement or messaging from trusted…
The rise of short-form video content on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube has created an opportunity for content creators to deliver positive interventions and messaging to a wider audience. All of these platforms have trusted creators to deliver prosocial messages, but upon research, it was found…
The rise of short-form video content on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube has created an opportunity for content creators to deliver positive interventions and messaging to a wider audience. All of these platforms have trusted creators to deliver prosocial messages, but upon research, it was found…
