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.
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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.
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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.
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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’.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Latest

This report investigates how TikTok has mishandled the moderation of anti-migrant and anti-refugee content on its platform.

This report examines the social activity of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the lead-up to the German state elections in Thuringia and Saxony.

CCOA announces a Policy Roadmap: "Mainstreaming (Digital) Human Rights in 2024" to address the online antisemitism that leads to real-world violence.

This report summarises ISD's findings on online antisemitism & provides literature insights to support ISD's Coalition to Counter Online Antisemitism.

ISD analysis found that South African women in politics often face abuse online in the form of replies or comments to their posts or content about them.

This playbook examines the shift from violent groups to online extremism, highlighting digital literacy, audience communication, and proactive engagement with at-risk individuals.

This country profile uses analysis of open sources including social media, protest footage and media interviews to examine the growth of anti-drag hate and harassment in France.

This policy brief examines six case studies of recently released American ISIS arrestees to highlight the lack of disengagement from extremist ideology and provides policy recommendations.

This is the executive summary of ISD’s Pulling Back the Curtain series which explores different aspects of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The series consists of four separate investigations examining the recommendations sent to eight U.S.-based YouTube accounts registered with varying ages, genders, and interests over one month. This report summarizes the findings across all four investigations and provides an overview of the project and platform policy recommendations.

This is the fourth investigation in ISD’s Pulling Back the Curtain series which explores different aspects of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The series consists of four separate investigations examining the recommendations sent to eight U.S.-based YouTube accounts registered with varying ages, genders, and interests over one month. This report examines the recommendations sent to two accounts with an interest in Spanish langauge news.

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

TikTok and Anti-Migrant & Anti-Refugee Content

From Posts to Polls: AfD Social Media Activity in east Germany and the Growing Dilemma of Coalition Politics

Announcement: Development of Policy Roadmap to Counter Online Antisemitism in 2024

Research Compilation on Online Antisemitism

Online Gendered Abuse and Disinformation During the 2024 South African Elections

Positive Online Interventions Playbook: Innovating Responses to a Shifting Online Extremist Landscape in New Zealand

A Year of Hate: Anti-Drag Mobilisation Efforts Targeting LGBTQ+ People in France

Policy Brief: Managing the Release of American ISIS Arrestees

Pulling Back the Curtain: An Exploration of YouTube’s Recommendation Algorithm

Investigation 4: Spanish-Language News Consumers