The 2025 AVERT International Research Symposium is an in-person event taking place on 24-26 November 2025 at Deakin University’s Deakin Downtown Campus, Melbourne, Australia. Overseas presenters can register to present online via Zoom. This year, AVERT is collaborating with VOX-Pol and the Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference to deliver this year’s Symposium: Signal or noise? Navigating the changing nature of violent| VOX - Pol
By Bo Min Keum & Richard Frank N.B. Please be aware that this post contains slurs hostile to women, which some readers may find offensive and distressing. Reader discretion is therefore advised. (Ed.). Incel research is often conducted from the outside looking in. We were interested in how someone who has left and holds insider| VOX - Pol
Welcome to Volume 12, Issue 6 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter. UPCOMING EVENTS You are invited to a VOX-Pol webinar taking place on Wednesday 18 June 2025, starting at 15:00 (UK time). Register to attend by emailing info@voxpol.eu. This webinar accompanies the recently published United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and VOX-Pol joint report: Right- and left-wing| VOX - Pol
By Stephane J. Baele The rise of “composite” extremism – and of its classifications Over the past few years, cases of violence apparently inspired by unclear or hybrid ideological motivations seem to have multiplied in OECD countries, prompting scholarly debates, law-enforcement worries, and, more recently, political declarations. Particularly striking or lethal instances that receive significant| VOX - Pol
VOX-Pol Next Generation Network Conference 2025 Hosted by Charles University, Prague September 25-26th, 2025 We are pleased to announce the VOX-Pol Next Generation Network Conference, a community of early-career researchers (ECRs) working on issues related to violent online extremism in its many forms. The conference will be held September 25-26th, 2025 at Charles University in| VOX - Pol
By Sydney Litterer, Ryan Scrivens, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, and Richard Frank This article summarizes a recent study published in Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. Research exploring the online posting patterns and behaviors in spaces known for facilitating violent extremism, especially in online spaces steeped in racially and ethnically motivated (REM) extremist ideologies, has| VOX - Pol
By Anna Kruglova and Bruce White The digital landscape demands evolving strategies against violent extremism and terrorism online. Traditional counter-measures by professional institutions often struggle to keep pace with the sophisticated propaganda and disinformation disseminated by extremist groups and hostile actors. Their ability to adapt quickly necessitates democratizing counter-efforts, empowering communities to safeguard online spaces.| VOX - Pol
By Katy Vaughan Ofcom, as the UK’s independent regulator of ‘Online Safety’ is taking a phased approach to the implementation of the Online Safety Act, which passed into law in October 2023. In December 2024 Ofcom published its statement on the progress of the first phase of implementation which focuses on ‘illegal harms’, including the| VOX - Pol
Kate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland and Susan Hopkins, University of the Sunshine Coast Filmed in a one-take style, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s new crime drama Adolescence is being hailed by critics as a technical masterpiece. Out now on Netflix, the four-part series follows the fallout surrounding 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) after he| VOX - Pol
By Joe Whittaker, Elizabeth Pearson, Ashley A. Mattheis, Till Baaken, Sara Zeiger, Farangiz Atamuradova, & Maura Conway There are two words that will strike fear into the hearts of many researchers of online deviance: “Ethics Committee.” Attend a conference or workshop, it is commonplace to have discussions about bureaucratic nightmares which stifle the ability of| VOX - Pol
By Alastair Reed, Andrew Glazzard, Samantha Treacy Ever since the rapid rise of the so-called Islamic State and its effective use of online propaganda to recruit and radicalize individuals, countering the communication strategies of terrorists and violent extremists has been a top priority for governments and policymakers. Early approaches generally fell into two categories: disrupting| VOX - Pol
By Stephanie Wescott, Monash University and Steven Roberts, Monash University The UK government has recently announced a review into their counter-terrorism strategy, focussing on responses to “extremist ideologies”. This announcement named misogyny as one of its extremist ideological trends of interest. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: For too long, governments have failed to address the| VOX - Pol
By Arthur Bradley An assailant injured at least five people with a knife in a tea garden in Sehit Rustem Demirbas Park, Eskisehir, northwestern Turkey, on 12 August. Police apprehended the 18-year-old suspect within a few minutes of the violence starting. He was dressed in camouflage trousers and an assault vest, helmet, goggles and skull mask, and also reportedly carried| VOX - Pol
By Anne Craanen In 2021, two members of The Base (a neo-Nazi accelerationist organisation) were arrested in the Netherlands for membership of a terrorist organisation as well as attempting a terrorist plot on former Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. On Friday 26 July 2024, the European Union (EU) sanctioned The Base as a terrorist organisation under| VOX - Pol
By Daniel E. Levenson Successful ideologues and leaders in extremist movements have long been aware of the power that misleading, but powerfully Manichean, pseudo-historical narratives can have on audiences. The foundation of this propagandistic material is often rooted in self-serving mythologies which justify the scapegoating of others and validation of the deeply felt grievances that| VOX - Pol
