This methodology paper provides an overview of ISD’s research approach for our data-driven snapshot of the Salafi digital landscape. The paper outlines the inclusion criteria, platform selection, and data-gathering approaches used to conduct the research, as well as the frameworks developed to empirically analyse narratives and formats within the Salafi online ecosystem. We also outline our unique approach to understanding ‘toxicity’ in the Salafi context, including the scoring and coding approach employed in our analysis.

ISD’s pioneering new research maps the rapidly evolving online Salafi ecosystem, providing a cross-platform snapshot of a broad landscape of English, German and Arabic content. To read about the full series on Salafism click here.