Publications Archive

SCN Publications Resources Digital Dispatches

Under-Moderated, Unhinged and Ubiquitous: Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State Networks on Facebook 
This report outlines networks of Somali, Kiswahili and Arabic pages and profiles on Facebook which are supportive of al-Shabaab and the Islamic State. It serves as a a case study into the moderation blind spots of the platform in languages outside of English, and illustrates how terrorist supporters are exploiting these gaps.
Read more
The Vladimirror Network: Pro-Putin Power-Users on Facebook
This briefing outlines the mechanics, narratives, and linkages of the pro-Putin power users — those that produce content at a high-rate day in and day out since the start of the invasion — on Facebook to pro-Kremlin groups and pages, painting a picture of a coordinated, seemingly inauthentic campaign intended to buttress the image of Putin in a range of languages and geographies.
Read more
Conspiracy Clickbait: This One Weird Trick Will Undermine Democracy
This report uses case studies to examine the growth of conspiracy theories as clickbait, which will supercharge existing problems of disinformation and polarisation.
Read more
Islamogram: Salafism and Alt-Right Online Subcultures
This report provides an ethnographic deep dive into an emerging online Salafi ecosystem, referred to by its members as ‘Islamogram’.
Read more
Policy Paper: Mainstreamed Extremism and the Future of Prevention
This policy paper considers the paradigm shift in prevention approaches required to respond to today's extremism challenges, focusing on a human rights based approach.
Read more
Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok
This research examined how TikTok is used to promote white supremacist conspiracy theories, produce weapons manufacturing advice, glorify extremists, terrorists, fascists and dictators, direct targeted harassment against minorities and produce content that denies that violent events like genocides ever happened. Furthermore, the report includes analysis of how users seek to evade takedowns by TikTok.
Read more
Gamers Who Hate: An Introduction to ISD’s Gaming and Extremism Series
This report serves as an introduction to ISD's Gaming and Extremism series, which explores the use of the gaming-related platforms Steam, Discord, Twitch and DLive by the extreme right, concentrating specifically on the UK. The series provides snapshot analyses designed to identify key trends and patterns which can provide the groundwork for future analysis.
Read more
Bankrolling Bigotry: An overview of the Online Funding Strategies of American Hate Groups
Hatred is surging across the United States, threatening the safety, security and wellbeing of minority communities, and societal harmony writ large. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and Global Disinformation Index (GDI) have analysed the digital footprints of 73 US-based hate groups, assessing the extent to which they used 54 online funding mechanisms.
Read more
Hosting the ‘Holohoax’: A Snapshot of Holocaust Denial Across Social Media
This briefing brings together the observations of a coalition of organisation who monitored the 2019 European Parliamentary Elections to identify distortion, disruption or interference campaigns and the technology companies response to them. You can read more about ISD's work monitoring the 2019 EU Elections in our interim report, published 24th May 2019.
Read more
The Genesis of a Conspiracy Theory
This briefing paper provides an overview of the key trends in activity around the QAnon conspiracy theory from 2017 to 2020. Crucially it points to major spikes in QAnon activity in March 2020, suggesting both an increase in activity to promote the conspiracy theory and the spread of this conspiracy to new audiences.
Read more

Latest

An analysis of the volume of antisemitism on Twitter before, during and after its takeover by Elon Musk.

This report presents the key findings of the 2022 project "Countering Radicalisation in Right-Wing Extremist Online Subcultures" funded by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Im vorliegenden Bericht werden die zentralen Erkenntnisse des vom Bundesministerium der Justiz geförderten Projektes »Radikalisierung in rechtsextremen Online-Subkulturen entgegentreten« aus dem Jahr 2022 vorgestellt.

The report examines the efforts behind the incel Wiki, a page administered by self-identified incels, that attempt to distinguish the difference between them and those associated with their movements and mass violence.

This report focusses on online spaces used by extremist, hate and disinformation actors as they move away from mainstream social media platforms.

This report evaluates the second round of the Mayor of London’s Shared Endeavour Fund, a £600,000 civil society funding scheme to support projects addressing hate and extremism.

Die erste Dokumentation des Projektes »Plattform-übergreifende Identifikation, Überwachung und Modellierung von Verbreitungsmustern von Desinformation (NOTORIOUS)« umfasst eine Problemdefinition, die Herleitung von Begriffsdefinitionen, die technische Vorgehensweise, methodische Limitationen, sowie einen Use Case, um die Systeme und Arbeitsweisen zu testen.

ISD's investigation found that Etsy, Redbubble and other popular e-commerce sites, are not only facilitating the sale of products promoting hate and extremism, but they are also profiting from these transactions, directly going against their own guidelines.

Dieser Bericht untersucht wie die rechtsextreme Szene die Freie Software PeerTube nutzt, um eigene Videoplattformen zu erstellen. Er beinhaltet eine Netzwerkanalyse des Föderationssystems sowie datengestützte Untersuchung zur Nutzung dieser Videoplattformen. Zudem ordnet der Bericht PeerTube in der weiteren Diskussion um das sogenannte Fediverse ein.

This report examines the role of online crisis protocols in platform governance & makes key recommendations for safeguarding human rights in the context of the envisioned DSA crisis mechanism.

Under-Moderated, Unhinged and Ubiquitous: Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State Networks on Facebook

The Vladimirror Network: Pro-Putin Power-Users on Facebook

Conspiracy Clickbait: This One Weird Trick Will Undermine Democracy

Islamogram: Salafism and Alt-Right Online Subcultures

Policy Paper: Mainstreamed Extremism and the Future of Prevention

Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok

Gamers Who Hate: An Introduction to ISD’s Gaming and Extremism Series

Bankrolling Bigotry: An overview of the Online Funding Strategies of American Hate Groups

Hosting the ‘Holohoax’: A Snapshot of Holocaust Denial Across Social Media

The Genesis of a Conspiracy Theory

Latest

Antisemitism on Twitter Before and After Elon Musk’s Acquisition

Inside the Digital Labyrinth: Right-Wing Extremist Strategies of Decentralisation on the Internet & Possible Countermeasures

Im digitalen Labyrinth – Rechtsextreme Strategien der Dezentralisierung im Netz und mögliche Gegenmaßnahmen

Spitting out the Blackpill: Evaluating how Incels Present Themselves in their own Words on the Incel Wiki

Erforschung des sich im Wandel begriffenen Online-Ökosystems: Hindernisse, Methoden und zukünftige Herausforderungen

Shared Endeavour Fund Call Two Evaluation Report

Influencer:innen und Verschwörungsrapper – Eine erste methodische Exploration von Multiplattformerhebung im Projekt NOTORIOUS

Profiting from Hate: Extremist Merchandise on Redbubble, Etsy, Teespring, Teepublic and Zazzle

Die Hydra im Netz: Herausforderung der extremistischen Nutzung des Fediverse am Beispiel PeerTube

Online Crisis Protocols – Expanding the Regulatory Toolbox to Safeguard Democracy During Crises