Digital Analysis Unit
ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit is dedicated to better understanding how extremist and hate groups use technology.
The rise of social media has revolutionised the activities of extremist groups and hate actors. Working with strategic technology partners, ISD’s team of analysts use data analytics, natural language processing, OSINT techniques and rigorous ethnographic research to develop a real-time understanding of extremist networks, movements and narratives online.
The Digital Analysis Unit has the most advanced open source online data analytics, risk identification and evaluation capabilities available in the counter-extremism and disinformation fields. We are able to analyse specific types of hate and extremist speech and content online, with methodological rigour and transparency. We can detect instances of the covert manipulation of content, identities and behaviours to spread false information or to mislead the public. We can map the scale of extremist or disinformation networks across platforms and audiences.
We use these insights to help policymakers and tech companies craft informed policy responses to hate and disinformation, and to help communities mount responses at the local level.
ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit
Our Hate Mapper allows us to identify hateful, polarising and divisive discourse and geo-locate online posts to state, county or city level. This provides granular insights to local practitioners, enabling them to target their responses.
Our strategic partnership with CASM Technology blends our subject-matter expertise with advanced and evolving technology, ensuring we can understand and adapt to new platforms and technologies as they emerge.
Our award-winning capability for detecting and countering information threats, Beam, combines cutting-edge analytics with deep understanding of our issue areas, and is being deployed in an ever-expanding array of geographies, languages, and technical contexts.
Our combination of data analytics, OSINT and ethnographic research approaches allows us to better understand how bad actors leverage social media and online communications to recruit and spread propaganda and disinformation online.
Our work on elections leverages the Digital Analysis Unit’s analysis and approach to understand threats to democracy and human rights from disinformation and online manipulation targeting democratic processes and outcomes.

Francesca Arcostanzo
Digital Analysis Unit Lead






Cooper Gatewood
Senior Digital Research Manager



Cooper Gatewood
Senior Digital Research Manager



Kevin D. Reyes
Senior OSINT Specialist


