When we read about yet another shooting linked to online hate, or another violent network spreading across social media, the common refrain is that “social media platforms must do more.” Indeed, my own research in online extremism and content moderation shows that while content moderation takedowns have soared on major sites over the past several years, extremists still find plenty of digital spaces to recruit, organize, and call for violence, writes IGP Emerging Technologies, Intelligence, and Security Initiative Cofounder Tamar Mitts.

Over the past decade, a large number of extremist and hate groups have turned to internet platforms to inspire mass violence. Currently, there is little reliable evidence on how such campaigns radicalize targeted audiences, write IGP Emerging Technologies, Intelligence, and Security Initiative Cofounder Tamar Mitts and coauthors.

What explains online radicalization and support for ISIS in the West? Over the past few years, thousands of individuals have radicalized by consuming extremist content online, many of whom eventually traveled overseas to join the Islamic State. This study by IGP Emerging Technologies, Intelligence, and Security Initiative Cofounder Tamar Mitts examines whether anti-Muslim hostility might drive pro-ISIS radicalization in Western Europe.