In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the defense and intelligence communities recognized that they could no longer ignore huge swaths of Africa. The terror attacks’ genesis may have laid in Afghanistan, but the threat failed states and ungoverned territories posed was broader. Not long after, the…

In February 2022, Tech Against Terrorism organised a roundtable discussion on “Assessing the Threat of Terrorist Exploitation of E2EE Services and Existing Responses.” This event marked the launch of a three-part roundtable series on assessing and countering terrorist use of end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) services, aiming to highlight risk mitigation strategies…

Launched by Tech Against Terrorism with support from Public Safety Canada, the Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) seeks to disrupt terrorist use of the internet by facilitating the quick and accurate removal of terrorist content. It does this by alerting terrorist content to tech companies when found on their platforms….

Negotiations with violent criminal groups – such as mafias, cartels, gangs and pirates – occur more often than imagined. This publication, grounded in more than three years of in-depth IFIT research and dozens of first-person interviews conducted with actual negotiators, offers key lessons drawn from the most diverse set of…

In the face of content takedown and account suspensions on the biggest social media platforms, terrorist groups and their supporters have resorted to the use of file-sharing sites to ensure stable access to their propaganda. Amongst those to have employed this strategy are supporters of the so-called Islamic State (IS)….

This research brief details findings from a recent collaborative project exploring different groups related to Atomwaffen Division (AWD) on Telegram. The brief provides an initial foray into understanding the digital communicative practices these AWD-related groups use to maintain their loose structure as a transnational, digitally networked extremist culture. Groups affiliated…

As the online space becomes increasingly centre-stage in the fight against antisemitism, this guide from ISD and B’nai B’rith International, in partnership with UNESCO, aims to build capacity among civil society to tackle this growing threat. Recognising the enormous capacity for positive action that the digital space offers, this practical and action-oriented…

Over 2.5 million of Russia’s estimated 11.6 million migrants are thought to come from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). Dubbed the ‘world’s largest migration corridor’, Russia and the Central Asian states have become mutually dependent on migration as the former relies on an imported labour force and…

The battle for Raqqa, Syria, seemed like a perfect storm of strategic and operational challenges. When the city was finally liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in October 2017, 60 to 80 percent of it was estimated to be uninhabitable. In fact, the battle for Raqqa…

Recent demonstrations and violent attacks have highlighted the need for an improved understanding of the role of internet-based technologies in aiding and amplifying the spread of extremist ideologies. Since the early days of the internet, radical groups and movements across the ideological spectrum have demonstrated their intent and ability to…

In April 2022, the Government of New Zealand’s Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) released its first annual Digital Violent Extremism Transparency Report. This is the first report of its kind in New Zealand and supports the Government’s overall commitments to transparency in reporting. The purpose of this…

There are thousands of Muslims from the North Caucasus being held in the Russian penitentiary system who are, according to human rights activists, one of the most vulnerable and discriminated groups in the Russian prison population: they are more likely than others to be beaten or tortured, their right to…