NewsItems Archive

New York Times
The Far-Right and Alt-Right Find Common Ground with the Taliban
ISD’s Moustafa Ayad provides insight to the New York Times in this piece on "Right Wingers who Admire the Taliban."
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POLITICO Europe
Hate in Plain Sight: Extremists Unchecked Activity Spreads on TikTok
Ciarán O’Connor’s research on the state of hate on TikTok is featured in articles by POLITICO Europe, USA Today, Jewish Insider, PBS and The Journal, among others.
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WIRED UK
Far-right gamers on Steam and Discord, an uncensored community
Our findings on popular gaming platforms Steam, Discord, DLive and Twitch, are featured in this article for WIRED UK.
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POLITICO
Pro-Trump Social Media Platform Inundated with Jihadist Propaganda
ISD’s Moustafa Ayad shared with POLITICO various findings relating to the rapid exploitation of the recently launched social media network Gettr by Islamic State and jihadist groups.
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ISD in the Media

September 20, 2021 | BBC Click

ISD's Jacob Davey spoke with BBC Click about far-right extremist activity on gaming platforms.

September 11, 2021 | Al Jazeera

The global War on Terror has further fueled extremist discourse around the world, according to ISD's Moustafa Ayad.

September 7, 2021 | Sky News

ISD's CEO, Sasha Havlicek, speaks with Sky News about the global implications that have resulted in the last 20 years when the U.S. embarked on what would be their longest war.

August 27, 2021 | New York Times

ISD’s Moustafa Ayad provides insight to the New York Times in this piece on "Right Wingers who Admire the Taliban."

August 25, 2021 | POLITICO Europe

Ciarán O’Connor’s research on the state of hate on TikTok is featured in articles by POLITICO Europe, USA Today, Jewish Insider, PBS and The Journal, among others.

August 12, 2021 | WIRED UK

Our findings on popular gaming platforms Steam, Discord, DLive and Twitch, are featured in this article for WIRED UK.

August 2, 2021 | POLITICO

ISD’s Moustafa Ayad shared with POLITICO various findings relating to the rapid exploitation of the recently launched social media network Gettr by Islamic State and jihadist groups.

July 20, 2021 | CBC News

Mackenzie Hart discusses the findings and implcations of ISD's new report: An Online Environmental Scan of Right-Wing Extremism in Canada.

July 14, 2021 | NBC News

ISD's Ciarán O'Connor spoke to NewsNation Now, NBC News and Reuters on his findings.

July 1, 2021 | BBC's Newsnight

ISD’s Chloe Colliver speaks with Newsnight about the risks of radicalisation, and radicalisation toward violence, after prolonged exposure to extremists and disinformation narratives like those being seen in the antivaxx movement.

June 28, 2021 | Morning Consult

Aoife Gallagher speaks with the Morning Consult about how QAnon believers often also follow antisemitic tropes.

June 18, 2021 | POLITICO

ISD's work monitoring a range of social media platforms in the lead up to the German Federal Election this September is featured in an article by Mark Scott for POLITICO.

June 18, 2021 | BBC News Africa

ISD's Aoife Gallagher is featured in a story by BBC News Africa following the death of George Nkencho and the misinformation storm that ensued.

June 16, 2021 | Wall Street Journal

ISD's CEO Sasha Havlicek is quoted in an article by Parmy Olson for the Wall Street Journal about the long-term effectiveness of Facebook's oversight panel.

July 12, 2021 | Alsat-M

ISD’s Emir Hasanovic is an in-studio guest at North Macedonia's most watched national station for a 30-minute interview on ISD's Strong Cities work in the Balkans.

May 5, 2021 | Tortoise Media

Jennie King writes an op-ed for Tortoise on how far-right extremists are turning their attention online to the alleged threat of the green agenda.

April 30, 2021 | VICE

In a VICE article which highlights the harmful misinformation spread about George Nkencho and his death by the far-right on Telegram, Aoife Gallagher is quoted on how Telegram has evolved among far-right groups and supporters in Ireland.

April 29, 2021 | USA Today

Chloe Colliver speaks to USA Today about the implications of an ISD research investigation which found Amazon’s algorithms recommending potentially harmful content to users.

April 11, 2021 | The Irish Times

Aoife Gallagher is quoted extensively in an article from The Irish Times about conspiracy theories and theorists in the digital age.

April 9, 2021 | WIRED

Moustafa Ayad and Ciaran O'Connor's research on Arabic-language COVID vaccine misinformation on Facebook is exclusively covered by WIRED.

March 29, 2021 | The Times

Milo Comerford is quoted in a Times article about the use of Facebook ads to promote conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine content on how the far-right weaponise many conspiracy theories to promote their own ideologies.

March 20, 2021 | BBC Sounds

This episode of the BBC Sounds Trending series, "The Anti-Vax Files: How anti-vax went viral," features insight from ISD's Chloe Colliver.

March 1, 2021 | RTÉ Radio 1

Aoife Gallagher discusses how the the Gardaí handled anti-lockdown protests in Ireland on Saturday, 27 February, on RTÉ Radio 1.

February 16, 2021 | SPLC

An article by the SPLC draws on analysis from ISD to explain the changing dynamics of right-wing extremist activity.

February 10, 2021 | Al Jazeera

Aoife Gallagher features in this episode of Al Jazeera's The Take: 'How did the QAnon conspiracy go global?'

January 28, 2021 | WIRED

Cécile Guerin writes for Wired about the increasing presence of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxx and QAnon narratives in the wellness community over the past year.

January 25, 2021 | Rolling Stone

Aoife Gallagher is quoted in a Rolling Stone article on why the increasing convergence between QAnon and the anti-government Sovereign Citizen movement is highly concerning.

January 18, 2021 | CNN

ISD's Chloe Colliver speaks on CNN's Don Lemon Tonight about the Capitol Hill riots and the role social media played in the event

January 14, 2021 | POLITICO

In the wake of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Chloe Colliver provides insight to POLITICO about the continued concerning activity of right-wing extremists online.

December 29, 2020 | Slate

Amarnath Amarasingam outlines how pro-Trump conspiracy theories may have actually discouraged postelection violence in an op-ed for Slate Magazine.

December 18, 2020 | New York Times

Research from ISD and NewsGuard about the spread of QAnon narratives on Facebook is exclusively covered by the New York Times, and featured in articles from the Financial Times, Die Welt, Deutschland Funk, Turi2, and La Repubblica, and NBC News.

December 17, 2020 | GNET

Jakob Guhl writes about online extremism in German-speaking countries during the COVID-19 pandemic for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET).

December 15, 2020 | ABC

Mario Peucker and ISD's Jacob Davey write for ABC (Australia) on whether Australia’s radical left pose a national security threat.

November 25, 2020 | IEP

Milo's Comerford's article for the Institute of Economics and Peace on the behaviour of extremist groups during the pandemic receives widespread media coverage, including from ITV, Arab News, Euractiv (DE), Metro and The Sun.

November 2, 2020 | The Forward

Chloe Colliver is quoted in The Forward on coordinated inauthentic behaviour on Faceboook.

October 27, 2020 | Politico

ISD's research work featured heavily in this article in Politico on how a small number of conservative users routinely outpace their liberal rivals and traditional news outlets in driving the online conversation.

October 27, 2020 | BBC Newsnight

ISD's Chloe Colliver appears on BBC's Newsnight to discuss how disinformation can spread, using the example of a fake announcement promoting the reopening of Woolworths stores in the UK.

October 27, 2020 | NBC News

NBC News provides exlcusive coverage of the research findings outlined in the new ISD report: Bankrolling Bigotry: An overview of the Online Funding Strategies of American Hate Groups.

October 16, 2020 | The Sun

In an op-ed for The Sun, Aoife Gallagher explains the QAnon conspiracy theory.

October 8, 2020 | Global News Canada

Mackenzie Hart discusses Facebook's ban of QAnon-related content on the platform.

October 7, 2020 | The Today Show (NBC)

Aoife Gallagher explains why QAnon can be considered a 'digital cult' on the Today Show.

October 5, 2020 | The Washington Post

The Washington Post provides exclusive coverage of the findings in ISD's new research report: Public Figures, Public Rage: Candidate Abuse on Social Media.

September 11, 2020 | CNN

As we approach another anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, Farah Pandith writes for CNN on how the terror threat in the U.S. has morphed over the last two decades.

September 8, 2020 | BBC Click

How ISD deputy director Moustafa Ayad discovered one of the largest collections of material belonging to the so-called Islamic State group ever found on the internet.

September 4, 2020 | BBC

In the latest episode of the The Real Story, a podcast from the BBC World Service, Aoife Gallagher provides expert opinion on why QAnon is "going global."

August 21, 2020 | First Draft

Chloe Colliver is quoted in this article on First Draft by Carlotta Dotto and Lydia Morrish on anti-masker conspiracy theories being amplified by Social Media.

August 11, 2020 | The Beacon

ISD's analysis of the key trends in activity around the QAnon conspiracy theory from 2017 to 2020 features in an article from The Beacon. Aoife Gallagher is quoted on the ongoing popularity of the conspiracy theory as well as the use of QAnon for electoral purposes by the Trump campign.

August 10, 2020 | CNN

CNN article based on our report on our case study of a pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Twitter network.

July 23, 2020 | BBC

Aoife Gallagher makes her BBC debut on video report about QAnon, coronavirus and the conspiracy cult.

July 12, 2020 | The Times

Moustafa Ayad, ISD Deputy Director for Technology, Communications, and Education, is extensively quoted in this article in The Times.

July 7, 2020 | CTED Trends Alert

In this Update to the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Trends Alert from April 2020, CTED examines how extreme right-wing groups have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

July 6, 2020 | BBC

Chloe Oliver, Head of Digital Policy and Strategy at ISD, is quoted in this BBC report on TikTok's problems with extremism.

July 2, 2020 | BBC

Chloe Colliver, head of the Digital Research Unit at ISD provides insights to this BBC story on 'False News' propagated on Facebook.

June 30, 2020 | CNN

Jakob Guhl talks to CNN about Telegram and its white supremacist problem.

June 30, 2020 | Coda

Jakob Guhl, Coordinator in Policy & Research, contributed to this story on Coda.

June 22, 2020 | ZDF Germany

Jakob Guhl, Coordinator in Policy & Research was interviewed for this ZDF exposé of right wing activity on the Telegram chat platform.

May 12, 2020 | POLITICO

Chloe Colliver is quoted in an POLITICO article about how COVID-19 is providing a global rallying cry for conspiracy theorists and far-right extremists.

May 11, 2020 | BBC Click

Chloe Colliver features in an episode of BBC Click that looks at the rise of disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic.