With the anniversary of the Christchurch Mosque attack approaching, and following Brexit, is the Muslim community in the UK living in fear? s the United Kingdom faces a post-Brexit reality spurred by an unprecedented rise in support for radical right populist parties, I interviewed Imam Saleem Hussain from Medina Mosque in Southampton, to gain an… Continue reading “Conversation with an Imam: being Muslim in Post-Brexit UK”
© Pete Linforth | Pixabay Just before his shooting spree at two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques, the alleged mass murderer posted a hate-filled manifesto on several file-sharing sites, and emailed the document to at least 30 people, including New Zealand’s prime minister. He also posted on several social media sites links to the manifesto and… Continue reading “Why the next terror manifesto could be even harder to track”
We need to empathise with those we fundamentally disagree with. Is society ready for that? In a year that marks the twentieth anniversary of the London Nail Bomber’s campaign of terror, two recent terrorist incidents, the Christchurch Mosque and San Diego Synagogue tragedies, have reinforced the deadly reality of neo-Nazi conspiracies and sharply focused the… Continue reading “Preventing radical right extremism requires honesty, empathy and a whole society approach. Are we doomed to fail?”
If we get it right, machine-learning could be useful in identifying hateful networks and building a complete picture of white extremist ecosystems as they emerge. In 25 April 2019, Vice Motherboard journalists Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler reported that during a recent Twitter company meeting a comment was made that: Twitter hasn’t taken the same… Continue reading “Content moderation and censorship: can we handle a double standard?”
In the wake of the right-wing terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, countries across the globe are scrambling to improve surveillance and monitoring of right-wing extremists. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate review of New Zealand’s security agencies, with 250 police officers investigating why the terrorist was not on any security… Continue reading “How to Prevent Hate”
The far right recognizes the value, both in training and in terms of access to arms and equipment, that active and former soldiers bring to its organizations. In early October 2018, a photo emerged that showed former leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) posing with a group of Army Cadets.… Continue reading “The Far Right Has a History of Infiltrating the British Army”
As recently published Prevent data shows, radical right extremism presents a very real threat to the UK’s domestic security. That to date, Prevent – the UK Government’s counter-extremism strategy – has been almost exclusively deployed in response to Islamist-inspired extremism, ensuring it is effective and appropriate for the newly emergent radical right threat presents a… Continue reading “The Counter-Extremism Response to the Radical Right: The Need for New Thinking”
Unless we start to resolve the systemic challenges in our communities, we are doing nothing to mitigate the racist stereotyping articulated by Neeson. A few weeks ago, Liam Neeson, the actor best known for his role as a protective father in the Taken movies and as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s mentor, sparked controversy due to comments he… Continue reading “Liam Neeson And The Prevalence Of Racial Stereotyping”
This month the former head of counter terrorism policing, Sir Mark Rowley, called for politicians, the media and the public not to underestimate the threat posed by far-right groups, highlighting as an example the step-change in organisation and sophistication represented by the proscribed National Action group. This is not about being alarmist, but we have… Continue reading “Time to “wake up” to the threat of the radical right”
The alt-right mobilised online to back far-right parties at Sweden’s general election – but are their tactics no longer effective? Recent years have seen the far and extreme right wing building international coalitions to disseminate propaganda in an attempt to bring the public around to their talking points, including the development of large networks of… Continue reading “Meme warfare in the Swedish context”