This month, RESOLVE highlights recommended readings from one of our latest Policy Notes, "Detecting Extremists Online: Examining Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists.” Authors Ryan Scrivens, Steven M. Chermak, Joshua D. Freilich, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, and Richard Frank highlight the importance of both identifying and examining the online behaviors of violent and non-violent extremists in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and provide researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with a number of recommendations for detecting and analyzing the online behaviors of violent and non-violent extremists in the future. This What We’re Reading digest was recommended by the authors to give more background on the role of the internet in facilitating violent extremists and terrorism, right-wing extremists’ use of the internet, comparing behaviors of violent and non-violent extremists, and former extremists in combating violent extremism.

 

On the role of the internet in facilitating violent extremism and terrorism

Conway, Maura. “Determining the Role of the Internet in Violent Extremism and Terrorism: Six Suggestions for Progressing Research.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 40, no. 1 (2017): 77-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2016.115740.

Gaudette, Tiana, Ryan Scrivens, and Vivek Venkatesh. “The Role of the Internet in Facilitating Violent Extremism: Insights from Former Right-Wing Extremists.” Terrorism and Political Violence (July 16, 2020): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.20 20.1784147.

Gill, Paul, Emily Corner, Maura Conway, Amy Thornton, Mia Bloom, and John Horgan. “Terrorist Use of the Internet by the Numbers: Quantifying Behaviors, Patterns, and Processes.” Criminology and Public Policy 16, no. 1 (2017): 99-117. https://doi. org/10.1111/1745-9133.12249.

Scrivens, Ryan, and Maura Conway. “The Roles of ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Media Tools and Technologies in the Facilitation of Violent Extremism and Terrorism.” In The Human Factor of Cybercrime, edited by Rutger Leukfeldt and Thomas J. Holt, 286-309. New York, NY: Routledge, 2019.

Scrivens, Ryan, Paul Gill, and Maura Conway. “The Role of the Internet in Facilitating Violent Extremism and Terrorism: Suggestions for Progressing Research.” In The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance, edited by Thomas J. Holt and Adam Bossler, 1-22. London, UK: Palgrave, 2020.

On right-wing extremists’ use of the internet

Baele, Stephane J., Lewys Brace, and Travis G. Coan. “Uncovering the Far-Right Online Ecosystem: An Analytical Framework and Research Agenda.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (December 30, 2020): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576 10x.2020.1862895.

Conway, Maura. “Routing the Extreme Right Challenges for Social Media Platforms.” The RUSI Journal 165, no. 1 (2020): 108-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2020.1727157.

Conway, Maura, Ryan Scrivens, and Logan Macnair. Right-Wing Extremists’ Persistent Online Presence: History and Contemporary Trends. The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, 2019. https://icct.nl/publication/ right-wing-extremists-persistent-online-presence-history-and-contemporary-trends/.

Daniels, Jessie. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.

Holt, Thomas J., Joshua D. Freilich, and Steven M. Chermak. “Examining the Online Expression of Ideology Among Far-Right Extremist Forum Users.” Terrorism and Political Violence (January 7, 2020): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2019.1701446.

Scrivens, Ryan, Tiana Gaudette, Maura Conway, and Thomas J. Holt. “Right-Wing Extremists’ Use of the Internet: Emerging Trends in the Empirical Literature.” In Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States, edited by Barbara Perry, Jeff Gruenewald, and Ryan Scrivens. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave (Hate Studies Series), Forthcoming 2021.

On right-wing extremist posting behaviors and patterns online

Davies, Garth, Edith Wu, and Richard Frank. “A Witch’s Brew of Grievances: The Potential Effects of COVID-19 on Radicalization to Violent Extremism.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (May 10, 2021): 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2021.1923188.

Kleinberg, Bennett, Isabelle van der Vegt, and Paul Gill. “The Temporal Evolution of a FarRight Forum.” Journal of Computational Social Science 4, no. 1 (May 2020): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-020-00064-x.

Scrivens, Ryan. “Exploring Radical Right-Wing Posting Behaviors Online.” Deviant Behavior (April 26, 2020): 1-15. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/01639625.2020.1756391.

Scrivens, Ryan, Garth Davies, and Richard Frank. “Measuring the Evolution of Radical Right-Wing Posting Behaviors Online.” Deviant Behavior 41, no 2. (2020): 216-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1556994.

Scrivens, Ryan, Amanda Isabel Osuna, Steven M. Chermak, Michael A. Whitney, and Richard Frank. “Examining Online Indicators of Extremism in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (May 6, 2021): 1-25. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/1057610x.2021.1913818.

Scrivens, Ryan, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, and Richard Frank. “Examining the Developmental Pathways of Online Posting Behavior in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums.” Terrorism and Political Violence (October 1, 2020): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0 9546553.2020.1833862.

On comparing behaviors of violent and non-violent extremists

Becker, Michael H. “When Extremists Become Violent: Examining the Association Between Social Control, Social Learning, and Engagement in Violent Extremism.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (June 11, 2020): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576 10x.2019.1626093.

Chermak, Steven, Joshua Freilich, and Michael Suttmoeller. “The Organizational Dynamics of Far-Right Hate Groups in the United States: Comparing Violent to Nonviolent Organizations.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 36, no. 3 (2013): 193-218. https://doi. org/10.1080/1057610x.2013.755912.

Holt, Thomas J., Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Gary LaFree. “Examining the Utility of Social Control and Social Learning in the Radicalization of Violent and Nonviolent Extremists.” Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict 11, no. 3 (2018): 125- 148. https://doi.org/10.1080/17467586.2018.1470661.

Horgan, John, Neil Shortland, Suzzette Abbasciano, Shaun Walsh. “Actions Speak Louder Than Words: A Behavioral Analysis of 183 Individuals Convicted for Terrorist Offenses in the United States from 1995 to 2012.” Journal of Forensic Sciences 61, no. 5 1237-1228 :(2016). https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13115.

Jasko, Katarzyna, Gary LaFree, and Arie Kruglanski. “Quest for Significance and Violent Extremism: The Case of Domestic Radicalization.” Political Psychology 38, no. 5 (October 2017): 815-831. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12376.

Keatley, David, Sarah Knight, and Abbie J. Marono. “A Crime Script Analysis of Violent and Nonviolent Extremists.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (June 28, 2021): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2021.1917651.

Knight, Sarah, David Keatley, and Katie Woodward. “Comparing the Different Behavioral Outcomes of Extremism: A Comparison of Violent and Non-Violent Extremists, Acting Alone or as Part of a Group.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (November 11, 2019): 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2019.1680192.

LaFree, Gary, Michael A. Jensen, Patrick A. James, and Aaron Safer-Lichtenstein. “Correlates of Violent Political Extremism in the United States.” Criminology 56, no. 2 (2018): 233-268. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12169.

Scrivens, Ryan, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Richard Frank. “Comparing the Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists.” Terrorism and Political Violence (March 8, 2021): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2021.1891893.

On former extremists in combating violent extremism

Clubb, Gordon, Ryan Scrivens, and M. D. Islam, eds. Former Extremists: Preventing and Countering Violence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press (Causes and Consequences of Terrorism Series). Forthcoming 2022.

Horgan, John. Deradicalization Programs: Recommendations for Policy and Practice. Washington, D.C.: RESOLVE Network, 2021. https://doi.org/10.37805/pn2021.18.vedr.

Scrivens, Ryan, Vivek Venkatesh, Maxime Bérubé, and Tiana Gaudette. “Combating Violent Extremism: Voices of Former Right-Wing Extremists.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (November 11, 2019): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2019.1686856.

Scrivens, Ryan, Steven Windisch, and Pete Simi. “Former Extremists in Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization Research.” In Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization, edited by Derek M. D. Silva and Mathieu Deflem, 209-224. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing, 2020.

Tapley, Marian, and Gordon Clubb. The Role of Formers in Countering Violent Extremism. International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, 2019. https://icct.nl/publication/the-role-of-formers-in-countering-violent-e….