Affordances

Affordances are the specific technical capabilities offered by individual platforms to their users, also referred to as functionality.  

Akh-right

A play on the words ‘akhi’ (Arabic for brother) and ‘alt-right’: a self-description used by Gen-Z Islamists who borrow memes and references from alt-right subculture.  

All Lives Matter 

The slogan “all lives matter” has its origins as an inclusive alternative to the “Black lives matter” slogan for those who felt this was a divisive or exclusionary term. However, this phrase has also been adopted by extremist and hate groups to highlight alleged hypocrisy by racial justice protests or to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement.  

Alt-Tech  

Alt-tech describes social media platforms used by groups and individuals who believe their political views have made major social media platforms inhospitable to them. This includes platforms built to advance specific political purposes; libertarian platforms that tolerate a wide range of political positions, including hateful and extremist ones; and platforms which were built for entirely different, non-political purposes like gaming.  

Alternative Media/News  

We categorise a given online news outlet as “alternative” based on the self-description of the news outlet as a corrective to a perceived political and media mainstream, i.e. if the front page or about section of the website or the social media channels features a self-description as alternative / different / anti-mainstream / revolutionary, and/or features (variants of) the following keywords and phrases: politically incorrect / controversial / provocative, “focusing on issues disregarded by other media”, “free of censorship / dedicated to the freedom of the press,” and “committed to the truth”.  

Alternatively, "based on the self-description of the news outlet as a corrective to a perceived political and media mainstream” noting that “alternative media channels do not automatically express right-wing political viewpoints."  

Alternative Medicine  

“Alternative medicine” is a collective term used to describe diagnostic and therapeutic approaches that are positioned as an alternative to science-based medicine. It has been proven that many of these therapeutic methods are no more effective than a placebo. Homeopathy and anthroposophy hold a special legal status in this regard, since the German Medicinal Products Act recognises them as special therapeutic options and they are exempt from needing to provide scientific evidence of their effectiveness. Alternative medicine often strays into the realm of Pseudoscience.  

Anti-abortion content  

ISD considers anti-abortion content to encompass content explicitly opposing abortion procedures, as well as content seeking to misrepresent abortion by spreading false or misleading information about the procedure and promoting unsafe methods of ‘reversing’ an abortion (e.g. ‘abortion pill reversal’). It also includes content from pages, individuals or organisations that self-describe as anti-abortion or “pro-life”.  

Anti-feminist  

Anti-feminist claims oppose or reject feminist concerns and positions and constitute a central way of thinking and ideology among the far-right. Anti-feminism acts as a bridge to the centre of society, normalising far-right and anti-diversity attitudes and resentments, and thereby undermining democracy and weakening social cohesion.  

Anti-Lockdown Movement  

During the COVID19- pandemic, opposition to the lockdown policies of the German government united a broad range of actors, ranging from far-right activists, influencers and media outlets to non-extremist actors which were not previously known to be involved in political activism.   

Anti-vaccine/vaccine sceptic  

The terms “vaccine sceptic” and “anti-vaxxer” cover a wide range of attitudes that are characterised by distrust of a specific vaccine or vaccines in general. Vaccine sceptics are not categorically opposed to vaccines, but have reservations of varying degrees about them. Certain vaccine sceptics accept some vaccines but reject others, sometimes including the COVID-19 vaccines. By way of contrast, anti-vaxxer are fundamentally opposed to vaccines. Their reasons range from suppositions derived from conspiracy theories to the deeply held belief that all vaccines.

Antisemitism

ISD refers to the definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), according to which antisemitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed towards Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”  In addition to this general definition, IHRA has provided a list of 11 non-exhaustive examples of contemporary antisemitism available at
https://antisemitism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/IHRA-Explainer-Web-Pages.pdf.  

Application Programming Interface  

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to communicate with each other. APIs have a huge range of uses, but in the context of this report, they allow researchers to access certain data from some online platforms via requests. As an intermediary, APIs also provide an additional layer of security by not allowing direct access to data, alongside logging, managing and controlling the volume and frequency of requests.  

Astroturfing  

Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organisation (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants.  

Blockchain   

Blockchain technology, which was developed especially for alternative currencies, stands out from other technologies due to its unique data structure, that – due to the transparency it offers and its decentralised design, in which data is stored at lots of different locations and regularly compared – is regarded as particularly tamper proof. Blockchain technology enables (pseudo-)anonymous transactions and communication – a feature that also makes the technology attractive for criminals and extremists.  

Christian Nationalism  

Christian nationalism has multiple definitions, but for ISD’s purposes it is understood to be an ideology that “idealises and advocates a fusion of Christianity and American [or Australian, or British] civic life” (Whitehead and Perry 2020:10). Christianity in this form is typically racialised (as white) and exclusionary (implying that other religions cannot or should not be part of the nation).  

Closed-Source Information  

"Closed-source information is information with restricted access or access that is protected by law, but which may be obtained legally through private channels, such as judicial processes, or offered voluntarily," according to the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. An example of closed-source information is information acquired "from other internet users through communication with those users." See definition for open-source information.  

Conspiracy Theories  

Conspiracy theories are attempts to explain a phenomenon by invoking a sinister plot orchestrated by powerful actors. Conspiracies are painted as secret or esoteric, with adherents to a theory seeing themselves as the initiated few who have access to hidden knowledge. Supporters of conspiracy theories usually see themselves as in direct opposition to the powers who are orchestrating the plot which are typically governments or figures of authority.  

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs)  

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are a type of deep learning algorithm optimised for processing grid-like data, such as images. A typical CNN consists of convolutional layers, paired with pooling layers, fully connected layers, and normalisation layers. CNNs are good at learning spatial hierarchies of features due to their structure, making them ideal for image recognition and object detection. Their design allows them to process visual data efficiently, making them a cornerstone in the AI sub-field of computer vision.  

Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour (CIB)  

This is a term used by Facebook to define groups of pages, groups or accounts that work together covertly to mislead users about who they are or what they’re doing. The platform’s definition of CIB requires that activity to involve a group of more than one affiliated social media entity (individual accounts, channels, groups, pages) that are exhibiting a set of characteristics of inauthentic identity and behaviour, managed together by one actor or set of actors.  

A set of online entities—individual accounts, groups or pages—operating together towards a shared goal or purpose, which can, but do not have to be, managed by the same actor(s).  

Crypto Wallet  

A (crypto) wallet is a physical storage medium or software that is used to store cryptocurrencies. The accounts have a specific private key and are usually protected by means of encryption. Depending on the cryptocurrency, wallets provide different levels of access to information about users and transactions associated with the account for third parties.  

Cryptocurrencies  

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies whose transactions are protected through cryptographic signatures and documented in a blockchain. When cryptocurrencies are sent, these transactions are validated through a process of code comparison. Cryptocurrencies enable pseudonymous transactions and usually have a decentralised structure; for example, there are no central authorities that define and stabilise the value of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, according to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), cryptocurrencies are not actually currencies, but rather financial instruments. The ability to make pseudonymised payments also makes cryptocurrencies attractive to criminals, who use such methods of payment to conduct illegal business.  

Deep Learning   

Deep Learning is a subset of machine learning. It employs artificial neural networks (ANNs), a methodology inspired by the functioning of a human or animal brain. ANNs are computational models consisting of node layers, which each contain “an input layer, one or more hidden layers, and an output layer”. They are particularly useful for clustering and classifying information. If a neural network has three or more layers of nodes through which data must pass, it is a deep-learning neural network – the intuition is that a greater number of layers makes the network literally deeper. In general, although not always true, the more node layers, the more capable the neural network at handling very large and complicated datasets and discovering patterns within unlabelled and unstructured data. As IBM explains, “[neural networks rely on training data to learn and improve their accuracy over time. However, once these learning algorithms are fine-tuned for accuracy, they are powerful tools in computer science and artificial intelligence, allowing us to classify and cluster data at a high velocity. Tasks in speech recognition or image recognition can take minutes versus hours when compared to the manual identification by human experts. One of the most well-known neural networks is Google’s search algorithm.” A specific kind of ANN, a Transformer Model, is utilised in LLMs (see ‘Transformer Models’ below).  

Deplatforming 

Deplatforming refers to the blocking of social media accounts and groups. It regularly results in these groups losing audience reach and revenue sources for their agendas. At the same time, deplatforming and the fear of accounts and websites being blocked or deleted has contributed to the emergence of alternative social media platforms.  

Disinformation  

ISD defines disinformation as false, misleading or manipulated content presented as fact, that is intended to deceive or harm.  

Dissuasive content  

Dissuasive content is defined as content that aims to deter people from having an abortion. Dissuasive content can be explicitly anti-abortion or use misinformation or graphic language. It can also deploy a wider range of narrative and communication tactics including presenting negative and unverified testimonials of people who claim to have undergone an abortion; selectively highlighting or overstating the risks and side effects of having an abortion; or exclusively promoting parenthood alongside a discussion of abortion.  

Dog Whistle

The term ‘dog whistling’ refers to the use of coded language that is understood only by the members of a specific group. These include words, phrases and references that are not understood by uninitiated audiences.  

Doxxing

The act of publicly revealing private or identifying information about an individual or organisation without their consent, often with the intent to harass, intimidate, or harm them.

Encryption  

Encryption refers to the process of encoding information so that it is rendered incomprehensible to everyone except specified receivers.  

Esoteric Nazism/Hitlerism  

Esoteric Nazism is a brand of neo-Nazism that promotes a belief system rooted in mythology and in which followers believe that white people once inhabited an ancient Aryan civilisation in a place known as Hyperborea or Thule. This incorporates mystical and occult-related interpretations of Nazi ideology, deifying Hitler and using symbols that first appeared centuries ago but were later popularised in the Nazi era. These include the well-known swastika but also the Sonnenrad (black sun), a lesser-known symbol that is “functionally equivalent” to the infamous Nazi symbol and used widely among white supremacists today, including by the Christchurch shooter  

Esotericism  

There is no general definition of the term “esotericism”. It is often used in a judgemental or derogatory way, however, and typically covers a spectrum of “occult doctrines”, the exact details of which are beyond the comprehension of large swathes of the population. Many of the varieties of esotericism – which are often ideologically shaped – centre around mysticism, spiritual growth and “higher knowledge” about the world.  

Ethnographic Research  

Ethnographic research methods involve deep and sustained involvement with a community. Instead of relying on data-collection technologies, researchers may take a more human approach by joining, participating in and observing online spaces as forms of community.  

Ethnonationalism  

We define ethnonationalism as a form of nationalism where the nation is defined in terms of ethnicity. Central to ethnonationalism is the belief that nations are tied together by a shared heritage and culture that is based on ethnicity. Ethnonationalists are often marked by the implicit promotion of racism and exclusionary attitudes and rarely promote overt supremacism.  

Extremism  

Extremism is the advocacy of a system of belief that claims the superiority and dominance of one identity-based ‘in-group’ over all ‘out-groups.’ It propagates a dehumanising ‘othering’ mind-set that is antithetical to pluralism and the universal application of Human Rights.  

Fake news   

Fake news is false or misleading content presented as news and expressed in written, printed, electronic, and digital communication. The term has also become politicised in recent years and used as a pejorative term to discredit others with opposing viewpoints. For these reasons, it is not widely used in research and is used by ISD primarily to reference its use by other researchers.  

False Flag Operation  

A 'false flag' is an act carried out to deceive observers and disguise the source behind the action with the aim of blame being attributed to another person/group.  

Far or radical left  

There is no broadly agreed definition of the far-left, and the scholarship on radical or far-left actions and groups in contemporary Western societies is much less developed than research on the far-right. Following Mudde and political researcher Luke March, and resonating with the differentiation of the far-right, we propose making a distinction between left-wing radicalism and extremism, where the latter groups are, again, anti-democratic, and the former advocate fundamental political and economic changes without being anti-democratic per se. Radical left groups, actions or networks are typically rooted in Marxist, socialist or anarchist ideologies, and pursue an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist and radically egalitarian, anti-fascist agenda, typically with an internationalist outlook. Radical left groups can sometimes be identified by the use of certain symbolism (e.g. Antifa flag, three arrows). In general, far-left groups may or may not see violence, especially against their political opponents (e.g. perceived representatives of fascism and capitalism), as a legitimate tool to pursue their political agenda.  

Far right/ far-right  

In line with academic and far right expert Cas Mudde, we define the far right as groups and individuals exhibiting at least three of the following five features: nationalism, racism, xenophobia, anti-democracy or strong state advocacy. Far right is an umbrella term, which encapsulates both the ‘radical right’ and the ‘extreme right’. According to Mudde, the radical right and the extreme right both ‘believe that inequalities between people are natural and positive’, but they hold different positions on democracy. While the radical right is opposed to certain aspects of liberal democracy (e.g. minority rights, independent institutions) it is not in principle against democracy, but favours a majoritarian democracy led by the in-group it identifies with. Extreme-right actors on the other hand are in principle opposed to democracy as a form of governance, instead favouring authoritarian rule. According to ISD’s working definition, far-right extremism refers to a form of nationalism that is characterised by its reference to racial, ethnic or cultural supremacy.  

Fediverse 

The Fediverse is an attempt to create a decentralised alternative to major social networks. The Fediverse includes micro-blogging, video and image-sharing services. The different servers within the Fediverse can communicate with one another, provided the services are using the same network protocol.  

Fleeting content  

Fleeting content is only available live and is not stored for later access. It includes livestreams, as well as videos and images that are shared via social media with pre-defined time limits.  

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI)

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) is defined by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) as “a mostly non-illegal pattern of behaviour that threatens or has the potential to negatively impact values, procedures and political processes. Such activity is manipulative in character, conducted in an intentional and coordinated manner. Actors of such activity can be state or non-state actors, including their proxies inside and outside of their own territory.” ENISA explains that the term FIMI aims to refine the concept of disinformation by emphasising “manipulative behaviour, as opposed to the truth of content being delivered.”  

Fragmented Platforms  

We define fragmented platforms as those where online content is theoretically accessible, without technological or ethical barriers, but nevertheless cannot be searched quickly or systematically, for example, via an API. Relevant content must therefore be found manually amid vast amounts of other material.  

Free Software  

The term free software refers to computer programmes with rights of use that allow scrutiny, distribution and modification by third parties. The goal is to enable everyone to work together to develop these programmes. This means the free software movement relies heavily on cooperation, which is what differentiates it from the pragmatic use of open-source software. “Free” refers to the ability to develop and distribute the software. The movement believes that the characteristics of free software prevent what they consider to be illegitimate power relationships between software owners and software users. “Free” explicitly does not mean that the software is free of charge. Free software contrasts with proprietary software which, for example, has not made its source code public, or has restrictive rights of use. Advocates of free software criticise proprietary software for keeping its source code confidential, which in their opinion prevents cooperation and creates knowledge hierarchies.  

Generative Adversarial Networks  

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are a type of machine learning model that involve two neural networks, a generator and a discriminator, which compete against each other. Utilising deep learning techniques, these networks operate in an unsupervised manner within a zero-sum game frame work. The generator‘s role is to create data that mimics real data, while the discriminator works to differentiate between genuine and artificially generated data. Through continuous interaction, both networks improve their functions, with the generator producing increasingly realistic data and the discriminator enhancing its ability to detect artificial data. This dynamic results in high-quality, believable outputs, such as lifelike images of human faces that do not correspond to real individuals.  

Graphic Content  

Graphic content includes text, images, video or audio that describes emotionally distressing topics or experiences in detail, including but not limited to: sexual assault, sexual harassment, suicidal ideation, self-injury, murder.   

Great Replacement  

The conspiracy theory established by Renaud Camus, in particular in his 2011 pamphlet The Great Replacement, claims that white European populations are being deliberately replaced at an ethnic and cultural level through migration and the growth of minority communities.  

Harmful Content and Harmful Behaviours  

We use harmful content and behaviours to refer to a broad spectrum of online activities that can have a negative impact on human rights, society and/or democracy. These can include targeted harassment of individuals, incitement of violence against a particular group or the spreading of disinformation and harmful conspiracy theories. In some instances, the risk of harm may be intrinsic to the content itself, with the risks exacerbated by amplification; in others, the harm may be caused by aggregate patterns of behaviour rather than the nature of the content itself. Depending on the geographic and legal context, different forms of harmful content and behaviours may or may not be illegal. Depending on the platform, these also may or may not be covered by a company’s ‘Community Guidelines’, standards  

Hate  

ISD defines hate as an activity which seeks to dehumanise, demonise, harass, threaten or incite violence against an individual or community based on their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability or migrant status.

Hyper-partisan  

This term is used to describe a piece of content, media source or actor that discusses politics from a single partisan point of view, often sensationalising and vilifying political opponents.  

Inauthentic Behaviour  

A set of behaviours suggesting an online entity might be operating under a false or misleading identity. These behaviours include: a mismatch between geolocation and topic; poor use of stated language (misspellings, grammar mistakes etc.); little or no evidence of human activity in photos; profile photos or interactions; stock photographs used for profile photos; sudden dramatic changes in posting volume; topic or language or both without explanation; repetitive posting or sharing patterns. Signals used to detect potential inauthentic behaviour are constantly evolving, based on the changing tactics of actors using such approaches to deceive audiences online.  

Incentivised Social Media  

“Incentivised” social media platforms reward users for their activity on the platforms using financial instruments (e.g. in the form of cryptocurrency payments). This creates a financial incentive for users to engage with their platform.  

Islamisation   

Islamisation describes the process by which the religion of Islam has spread across the world alongside associated Muslim customs, culture and traditions. The term has also come to be used with negative connotations as an Islamophobic trope to describe the supposed imposition of an ultra-conservative Islamic social and political system on a traditionally non-Muslim country or culture. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and, more recently, the growth of ISIS and Islamist terrorism, the term has been used to promote suspicion, anger and hatred against Muslims.    

Islamist Extremism  

Islamist extremism describes the advocacy of a system of belief that promotes the creation of an exclusionary and totalitarian Islamic state, within which those who do not subscribe to this vision are portrayed as an inferior ‘out-group’ and are subjected to implicit, explicit or violent means of subjugation and prejudice. Islamist extremists propagate a dehumanising ‘othering’ mind-set that is antithetical to pluralism and the universal application of human rights.  

Large Language Models (LLM)  

Large Language Models (LLMs) are statistical models that generate “plausible next words” to a user’s prompt. LLMs employ deep learning and are trained on vast datasets, enabling them to produce coherent and contextually relevant responses. As they excel at language-related tasks, they are an applied example of the natural language processing AI subfield.  

Machine Learning  

Machine Learning is a subfield of AI concerned with systems that automatically learn and improve from experience. For example, recommender systems utilised by digital platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Netflix or Amazon analyse users’ previous activity and preferences to recommend online content, movies, products and advertising etc.  

Misinformation  

Misinformation is false, misleading or manipulated content presented as fact, irrespective of an intent to deceive.   

Misogyny  

Misogyny is hatred or dislike of, contempt for, or prejudice against women, that is manifested in diverse forms such as mental, verbal or physical intimidation, harassment or abuse of women that targets them based on their gender or sex. This consists of any act, including online speech and content, that seeks to exclude, coerce, shame, stigmatise or portray as inferior, women based on these protected attributes.  

Monetisation  

Monetisation describes the process of earning revenue from content. This can take a variety of forms, including advertising revenue, merchandising, donations, subscriptions, affiliate marketing, paid promotions and sponsorship, among others.  

Nativism   

The term nativism refers to a political ideology or movement that stands for the prioritisation of the interests of “native inhabitants” of a country or region over those of immigrants and newcomers.      

NetzDG  

The Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) is a law that came into force on 1 October 2017 and was last amended in May 2021 with the aim of strengthening law enforcement on the internet. The aim of this act is to more effectively combat punishable hate speech and other punishable content on social networks. Its scope for the obligation to remove unlawful content includes platforms with at least two million registered users in Germany.  

Nihilistic violence

Nihilistic violence refers to acts lacking an ideological motivation and instead driven by a misanthropic worldview. While it often resembles extremist violence in both its nature and aesthetics, nihilistic violence seeks to fulfil emotional needs, or to gain notoriety/acceptance in online communities. Adherent are often part of digital subcultures such as the True Crime Community (TCC) and pseudo-Satanic No Lives Matter (NLM), both linked to the wider 764 network. The line between nihilistic and extremist violence is often blurred by the veneration of similar figures or the use of shared iconography: the difference between them is that while extremists are driven by a desire to achieve social change (e.g. forcing immigrants to leave Western countries), nihilists simply hope to gain fame.

Online Manipulation  

‘Disinformation’ and ‘Misinformation’ are examples of ‘online manipulation’ which encompasses one or more of the following:  

• False or misleading information
• False identities: ‘Inauthenticity’ (bots, cyborgs, sockpuppets)  
• False or deceptive behaviors: ‘coordination’  

Open Platforms  

Open Platforms are social media platforms on which content is visible to general users without further verification and often accessible via search engines. By contrast, content on closed platforms will not be easily accessible via search engines and often requires additional authentication or an invitation. Platforms will often contain open and closed elements; for example, Facebook has public (open) and private (closed) groups.  

Open Source Information  

"Open-source information encompasses publicly available information that any member of the public can observe, purchase or request without requiring special legal status or unauthorized access," according to the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. Digital open-source information is "publicly available information in digital format, which is generally acquired from the internet," and "comprises both user-generated and machine-generated data, and may include, for example: content posted on social media; documents, images, videos and audio recordings on websites and information-sharing platforms; satellite imagery; and government-published data."  

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)  

In line with national security expert Mark M. Lowenthal, ISD defines OSINT as: “Any and all information that can be derived from overt collection: all types of media, government reports and other documents, scientific research and reports, commercial vendors of information, the Internet and so on. The main qualifiers to open-source information are that it does not require any type of clandestine collection techniques to obtain it and that it must be obtained through means that entirely meet the copyright and commercial requirements of the vendors where applicable”  

Open-Source Investigation  

"Open-source investigation refers to the use of open-source information for information- and evidence-gathering functions," according to the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. "Digital open-source investigations are investigations based on digital open source information." See definition for open-source information.  

Peer-to-Peer  

Peer-to-Peer-technology (P2P) refers to different computers connecting with one another directly, without using a central server as an intermediary. In a pure P2P network, all connected devices are treated equally. The opposite of a P2P network would be the Server-Client model where devices can only access data via a central  

Platform 

Platforms are internet sites or apps through which users can communicate with each other. Of particular relevance are the so-called social media or social networks and messenger services.  

Pseudoscience  

The term “pseudoscience” covers assertions and teachings that claim to be scientific but do not meet common scientific standards such as factual verifiability, objectivity and measurability.  

QAnon conspiracy theory    

The conspiratorial movement known as QAnon began in late 2017 after anonymous posts began appearing on 4chan and 8chan, anonymous imageboard websites known for being a haven for conspiracy theories, trolling campaigns and extremist rhetoric. The user claimed to be a high-level government insider in the US Department of Energy and called themselves “Q”. Over the space of 3 years, Q posted almost 5,000 “drops” containing nonsensical codes and “clues” that they claimed exposed hidden secrets about the US government and wider geopolitics. QAnon followers decoded these drops and QAnon grew to become the conspiracy theory of everything as it ingested conspiratorial narratives both old and new into its lore. The overarching belief among followers of QAnon is that Donald Trump’s presidency was part of a secret decades-long plot to rid the world of a cabal of elites pulling the strings behind the scenes. This cabal, claimed Q, were all secretly involved in child trafficking and/or pedophilia and Trump was planning to bring them to justice, arrest them and execute them in a day of vengeance known as “The Storm”.  

Querdenker  

The term “Querdenker” (literally “lateral thinker”) refers to followers of the “Querdenken” movement, which originated in the area around Stuttgart and organises protests against pandemic restrictions. The movement now has regional branches around the country, some of which are under observation by constitutional protection authorities as a result of their proximity to the right-wing extremist scene  

Racism  

Racism is based on false assumptions of the existence of different human races according to which people of the same presumed “race” share certain characteristics.  

Redpilling  

Taking the red pill is a phrase that originated from the 1999 science fiction film, The Matrix, that refers to a person choosing to become aware of perceived unpleasant but necessary truths in the world, instead of taking the blue pill, which instead describes choosing to remain living in blissful ignorance about the world. The phrase has been adopted by far-right or misogynistic online communities in recent years and is now part of the vernacular among conspiracy communities like QAnon. It is used to describe the process of how an uninitiated person becomes educated about the central belief system of a particular conspiracy. QAnon redpilling takes the form of online users becoming exposed to videos and fringe sites that provide material to support the claim that an elite group of child-trafficking paedophiles rule the world and that outgoing President Trump has a secret plan in place to bring this group to justice.  

Reichsbürger & Sovereigntists  

Reichsbürger are an extremist German movement whose ideology is similar to that of “Sovereign Citizens” in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. Although the Reichsbürger movement encompasses various movements, they are united by the common conviction that the Federal Republic of Germany is not a sovereign state and that the laws and rules passed by the German state are therefore not binding.   

Salafism  

a form of Sunni Islam whose followers advocate a return to the practices of the first three generations of Muslims (the salaf or ‘ancestors’) who lived immediately after the prophet Mohammed. Within Salafism, there are different currents, which differ significantly in their interpretations of the holy scriptures of Islam and their implications for political action. Salafis are often subdivided into quietist Salafists, who reject political activism, political Salafis, who are actively engaged in transforming society according to their ideological ideas, and Salafi-jihadists, who use violence to implement a Salafi interpretation of Islamic law  

Seeds  

Seeds act as pre-defined starting points for extensive data collection. Lists of Seeds may be made up of keywords, internet addresses (URLs) or social media channels (accounts).  

Shallowfake  

Shallowfake (sometimes referred to as ‘Cheapfake’) refers to media that has been altered or manipulated in a relatively simple way (as opposed to ‘deepfakes’ which involve more sophisticated techniques like AI and deep learning).  

Spree Posting  

The same individual Facebook account posting identical content from Link Source entities to two or more Community groups or pages in under one minute.  

Systematic search methods  

Systematic search methods use technology to extract large amounts of data and metadata directly from online platforms. Data might include, for example, the content of online text, connections between online accounts and metadata, such as the time or geographical location of posts. Many social media platforms also make data easier to access by providing APIs that allow researchers to directly access various forms of data from platforms without needing to build their own code from scratch. The development of AI-based approaches has also allowed for ever more sophisticated analysis methods; for example, natural language processing (NLP) is increasingly used to detect trends, sentiments and entities mentioned across vast quantities of online text.  

Terrorism  

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism noted in a 2021 report that there is “no universal agreement on the definition of terrorism.” In their report they list the different definitions used in countries like the UK, USA or Japan, regional bodies like the EU and UN, and technology companies like Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft. ISD does not have an in-house definition of terrorism, but instead use the definition of “terrorist acts,” provided by the UN, that describes them as “criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death of serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population.”13 The use of politically or ideologically motivated violence can include promotion or support of groups associated with this violence, direct calls to violent action or the sharing of ideological material that may inspire others to carry out attacks.  

Transformer Models  

Transformer Models are a type of artificial neural network  that comprehend context and thereby grasp significance by observing associations in sequential information, such as the words in a text. Utilising a dynamic set of mathematical strategies, known as attention mechanisms, transformer models can discern the ways in which even separate elements within a data series impact and relate to one another. First introduced by Google in a 2017 paper, transformer models represent one of the most recent and potent models developed thus far, propelling a surge of breakthroughs in machine learning.  

White Lives Matter   

The slogan “White lives matter” has its origins in a racist campaign initiated by white supremacist groups in the US in 2015 in response to the then-emerging Black Lives Matter movement. This campaign purported to seek to address racism against white people but in reality was a vehicle to promote perceived white race victimhood narratives and conspiracies regarding white genocide and replacement.   

White Nationalism  

White nationalism is advocacy for a separate white society or white nation, also sometimes referred to as a white ethnostate. The Anti-Defamation League describes white nationalism as a euphemism for white supremacy; the term is now used to “refer to a form of white supremacy that emphasizes defining a country or region by white racial identity and which seeks to promote the interests of whites exclusively, typically at the expense of people of other backgrounds”.  

White Supremacism  

White supremacy is a system of belief that posits the superiority of whites over non-whites, and advocates that white people should be politically and socially dominant over non-white people. This can extend to a belief in the need for violence against, or even the genocide of, non-white people.