A young man, Philip Manshaus, who carried out the terror attack in Norway on 10 August 2019 has now been sentenced to 21 years ‘preventative detention’. He was charged with killing his step sister, Johanne Ihle- Hansen, and an act of terrorism for attacking the Al Noor mosque in Bærum, Norway. At the trial, he… Continue reading “Does Norway have a neo-Nazi terrorist problem?”
Memes remain an important potential influence on far-right online radicalisation and cannot be overlooked as an aspect of internet culture. The far right has always thrived in the online space, however scholars Lisa Bogerts and Maik Fielitz suggest that the advent of Web 2.0 catalysed “a process of (post-) modernisation” within the movement, thus creating… Continue reading “The Influence of Memes on Far-Right Radicalisation”
The radical right has always been good at spreading misinformation; now they might be spreading Covid-19. It is easy to look at the core ideology of the radical right—nativism, white supremacy, homophobia, misogyny—and call it ignorant and uninformed. This labelling is problematic because it is lazy; it assumes an either/or approach to knowledge and does… Continue reading “Is the radical right spreading the coronavirus?”
Isolation and fear are being used by the radical right to connect and indoctrinate people by spreading racist narratives about the virus. In the last four months, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread across every populated continent and infected more than two million people, with estimates of many more to come. More than just a tragic outbreak… Continue reading “The radical right is weaponising COVID-19 online”
From lies about 5G to vast conspiracies of a Bill Gates vaccine plot, COVID-19 has sparked an avalanche of conspiracy theories. Here’s how to spot them. Did you know that the anagram of “Carnivorous” spells “Coronavirus?” Think about it!!!!!!! (a Facebook post) This was posted by a vegan who peddles all types of conspiracies about… Continue reading “How To Debunk Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories”
Often when extremisms come about, they don’t occur in isolation. In the UK, for example, the emergence of extremist mobilisations have occurred subsequent to high-profile counter-movements, counter-protests and terror attacks that suggest a ‘connectivity between extremisms’ (Ranstrop 2010). In the far-right space, we’ve seen this in the creation of the English Defence League (EDL) in… Continue reading “Cumulative Extremism Online: How Moral and Strategic Aims Predict Narrative Escalation”
Sudesh Amman was released from prison before his attack in early February, raising questions of whether prison was an incubator for his radicalization. The horrific terror attack that took place last month, has again shone a light on our prison system and the radicalization process. Sudesh Amman, the man responsible for the attack in Streatham,… Continue reading “Did The Streatham Terrorist Get Further Radicalized In Prison?”
The extreme right has posed a consistent threat for years – ADL statistics show that between 2009 and 2018 in the US, the extreme right accounted for 73% of extremism or terrorism related deaths. However, there is also evidence that this threat is escalating. The Global Terrorism Index has recently reported that far-right terrorism has… Continue reading “New ISD Report: Interventions Initiatives & the Radical Right”
The UK education system has, since the statutorisation of Prevent, been legally obliged to both nurture ‘resilient’ students and refer those whose resilience has been or is at risk of being eroded. Resilience being understood as the ability to ‘bounce back from adversity’, or in other words, being able to both reject and remove oneself… Continue reading “A Case for Making Students Resilient to the Far-Right?”
Shortly before opening fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on July 28th, the now deceased gunman posted two photos to a recently created Instagram account. Although the posts were quickly removed after being linked to the attack, screen captures had already made their way onto other parts of the web. One of the photos was of the… Continue reading “The Influence of Might is Right in the Gilroy shooting”