Online Civil Courage Initiative

Combatting hate speech and extremism across Europe through our online counter-extremism hub in partnership with Facebook

ISD’s OCCI is the first strategic non-governmental effort to mount a proportional response to the propagation of hate, violence and terrorism online, across Europe. It delivers models that combine expertise from the technology, communications and marketing, and academic sectors to ‘upskill and upscale’ the civic response to online hate and extremism.

OCCI’s activities are designed to address the gaps and needs identified by the counter-speech community during OCCI’s first scoping phase:

Innovation Labs and OCCI Support Desk

The Innovation Lab model, a counterspeech workshop pioneered by ISD, coupled with direct support will help NGOs design and deliver their own counter-speech campaigns. The OCCI Support Desk will help to close the skills gap in production, marketing, data, partnerships and technology by providing support directly to NGOs.

Data analytics and insights

Without a comprehensive understanding of the fast evolving landscape of extremist and terrorist propaganda, narratives and networks, it is impossible to mount a targeted response. OCCI Insight Reports will equip NGO partners on an ongoing basis with the in-depth, data-driven insights and knowledge needed to develop effective, targeted campaigns.

Networks and resources

The OCCI Common Room is a centralised online platform that provides partners with access to OCCI resources, donated media and tools to boost civil society campaigns. Based on analytics, the OCCI Gallery will work with NGO partners to develop and amplify campaigns which fill identified gaps and opportunities to upscale counter-speech.

Support in-depth research

OCCI designs and delivers studies that provide rigorous data about online and offline patterns of hate speech and counter-speech approaches. The first OCCI report, analysing ISIS’s media strategy, was released in France this month.

Resource links

Visit the Online Civil Courage Initiative Facebook page to share ideas supporting counter-speech to combat online extremism
Read our Counterspeech Handbook (English)
- French
- German

Team

Charlotte Mumford

Project Coordinator

Charlotte Mumford is a Project Coordinator at ISD, working across ISD's digital counterspeech programmes and policy networks. Charlotte also supports a variety of ISD´s global projects with her foreign language skills. Charlotte is responsible for running the Policy Planners’ Network on countering radicalisation and polarisation (PPN), where she facilitates international network meetings between Interior Ministries worldwide on the most recent trends in counter-extremism. Charlotte also works on ISD’s Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI) in partnership with Facebook for which she manages the initiative’s online presence and engagement in Germany. Charlotte is an Associate of King’s College London (KCL) and holds a first class Master and Bachelor degree in Terrorism, Security and Society from KCL and in Politics with International Relations from the University of York.

Christopher Stewart

Project Coordinator

Christopher J. Stewart is a Project Coordinator at ISD, working primarily on the Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI) where he is responsible for the delivery of innovative models that combine expertise from the technology, communications and marketing, and academic sectors to ‘upskill and upscale’ the civic response to online hate and extremism. Christopher has an expertise in research focussed on the effectiveness of counterspeech and civil society efforts to challenge hate speech and extremism. Christopher’s most recent publications include: The Impact of Counter-Narratives, exploring the effect of online counter-narrative content, following a year-long cross-platform pilot study conducted in cooperation with Google; and an article on lone actor terrorism in the Chatham House journal The World Today. Christopher holds a Masters in Geopolitics & Security and a Joint Honors Bachelor in Geography, Politics and International Relations from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Cooper Gatewood

Project Associate

Cooper is a Project Associate at ISD, working predominantly with the Online Civil Courage Initiative. Cooper focuses on qualitative and quantitative research into extremism and radicalisation on social media platforms, and how they can be best counter-acted through counter-narrative campaigns. He also assists on a number of other research projects within ISD. Prior to joining ISD, Cooper worked at Portland, where he advised clients from the non-profit and government sectors on their media engagement and social media strategies. Cooper holds a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University and a Masters of International Security from Sciences Po. He has a background in quantitative research and data visualisation. He also speaks fluent Spanish and French, as well as proficient Japanese.

Iris Boyer

Partnerships & Networks Manager

Iris manages ISD’s partnerships and networks, currently focusing on the Online Civil Courage Initiative in partnership with Facebook and the Youth Civil Activism Network (YouthCAN). Before joining the ISD, Iris worked at YouTube on the development and coordination of the global campaign Creators for Change. Prior to that, she managed European counter speech and social good programmes at Facebook and spent some time working for French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Natasha Hanckel-Spice

Senior Programme Manager

Natasha manages ISD’s partnership projects programmes, overseeing delivery. This includes the Youth Civil Activism Network (YouthCAN) and Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI) in partnership with Facebook. Prior to joining ISD, Natasha worked with a number of well-known organisations including the British Home Office, advising on marketing strategy and developing social enterprise and youth campaigns.

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