Some scholars have suggested that IS serves as a model of media innovation for violent jihadi extremists using text, images, videos, and audiotapes as propaganda tools, but comparative multimodal studies of violent jihadi extremists are needed to critically examine this assertion. To test whether other groups’ media products mirror IS’s…

This paper investigates one sub-topic within a right-wing extremist (RWE) movement in India – love jihad, a conspiracy created by Hindutva nationalists alleging that Muslims forcefully convert Hindu women to Islam with allurements of love. Love jihad narratives and digital dissemination tactics serve a nation-building, patriarchal and vote-seeking function for…

This study explores the characteristics of individuals affiliated with violent extremist milieus in Sweden, focusing on far-right, far-left, and Islamic extremist milieus. Firstly, by using a compilation of law enforcement and other Swedish population registers, we describe these milieus along a range of demographic, socioeconomic, criminal, mental health, and familial…

Different databases, initiatives and reports aim to capture the state of the terrorist threat to a given country or region. It is less often, however, that these products focus on counter-terrorism nor do they feature the views of frontline practitioners on terrorism. This ICCT report addresses the aforementioned gap. By…

The Dutch National Training Institute against Radicalisation (Rijksopleidingsinstituut tegengaan Radicalisering, ROR) commissioned ICCT to conduct an impact evaluation to assess the longer-term effects of the foundational training on radicalisation and extremism. This training is frequently delivered to first- and second-line professionals from various sectors who may encounter these phenomena in…

According to UNSC 1373(2001), States should bring alleged terrorists to justice, reflecting the seriousness of the crimes they have committed, which forms a vital aspect of an effective counterterrorism strategy. Consequently, States need to ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation, or perpetration of terrorist acts…

Moonshot’s ‘Adapting Violence Prevention to the Digital World: A Framework for Action’ highlights the current disconnect between online and offline violence prevention, and therefore the urgent need to enhance prevention across the online environment. Ten years ago, Moonshot launched the first pilot approaches to reach people at risk of violence…

Emerging technologies and in particular, generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), are increasingly deployed for everyday use by individuals around the world. While these tools have enormous potential, the emergence of new technologies has heightened concerns about their manipulation and utilization by violent non-state actors (VNSAs), and in particular, terrorist and violent extremist…

This study explores the relationships between humiliation, perceived power loss, discrimination, and vulnerability to radicalisation across Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Analysing survey data from 5,501 respondents, we developed a measure of radicalisation vulnerability that captures both general vulnerability factors and specific ideological orientations. Muslims and ethnic…

Digital connectivity has created new opportunities for Jordanian women’s professionaldevelopment and civic engagement, providing increased flexibility and agency. However, despite digital platforms offering new opportunities for women in Jordan, they continue to face targeted harassment and systemic exclusion online. This is attested to by data from the country’s Cybercrime Unit, showing that women were…

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,…

This article shows how an arrangement of divine justification has led the popular culture of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) to incite violent actions towards the charismatisation and imaginary connection of God, Caliph and territory. ISIS’s discourse includes the mental reconstruction of the world map using imaginary geographies…