Uncovering the Wider Structure of Extreme Right Communities Spanning Popular Online Networks

Recent years have seen increased interest in the online presence of extreme right groups. Although originally composed of dedicated websites, the online extreme right milieu now spans multiple networks, including popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Ideally therefore, any contemporary analysis of online extreme right activity requires the consideration of multiple data sources, rather than being restricted to a single platform. We investigate the potential for Twitter to act as a gateway to communities within the wider online network of the extreme right, given its facility for the dissemination of content. A strategy for representing heterogeneous network data with a single homogeneous network for the purpose of community detection is presented, where these inherently dynamic communities are tracked over time. We use this strategy to discover and analyze persistent English and German language extreme right communities.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures. Due to use of "sigchi" template, minor changes were made to ensure 10 page limit was not exceeded. Minor clarifications in Introduction, Data and Methodology section

Uncovering the wider structure of extreme right communities spanning popular online networks

AbstractRecent years have seen increased interest in the online presence of extreme right groups. Although originally composed of dedicated websites, the online extreme right milieu now spans multiple networks, including popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Ideally therefore, any contemporary analysis of online extreme right activity requires the consideration of multiple data sources, rather than being restricted to a single platform.We investigate the potential for Twitter to act as one possible gateway to communities within the wider online network of the extreme right, given its facility for the dissemination of content. A strategy for representing heterogeneous network data with a single homogeneous network for the purpose of community detection is presented, where these inherently dynamic communities are tracked over time. We use this strategy to discover and analyze persistent English and German language extreme right communities.Authored by Derek O’Callaghan, Derek Greene, Maura Conway, Joe Carthy and Padraig Cunningham

Down the (white) rabbit hole: the extreme right and online recommender systems

In addition to hosting user-generated video content, YouTube provides recommendation services, where sets of related and recommended videos are presented to users, based on factors such as co-visitation count and prior viewing history. This article is specifically concerned with extreme right (ER) video content, portions of which contravene hate laws and are thus illegal in certain countries, which are recommended by YouTube to some users. We develop a categorization of this content based on various schema found in a selection of academic literature on the ER, which is then used to demonstrate the political articulations of YouTube’s recommender system, particularly the narrowing of the range of content to which users are exposed and the potential impacts of this. For this purpose, we use two data sets of English and German language ER YouTube channels, along with channels suggested by YouTube’s related video service. A process is observable whereby users accessing an ER YouTube video are likely to be recommended further ER content, leading to immersion in an ideological bubble in just a few short clicks. The evidence presented in this article supports a shift of the almost exclusive focus on users as content creators and protagonists in extremist cyberspaces to also consider online platform providers as important actors in these same spaces

KAJIAN LITERATUR PENERAPAN SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK DAN INFORMATION SECURITY INTELLIGENT UNTUK MENGIDENTIFIKASI POTENSI RADIKALISASI ONLINE

Kajian literatur penelitian terdahulu menunjukkan bahwa berbagai platform media sosial di Internet seperti Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube, Blog dan forum diskusi disalahgunakan oleh kelompok-kelompok ekstremis untuk menyebarkan kepercayaan dan ideologi mereka, mempromosikan radikalisasi, merekrut anggota dan menciptakan komunitas virtual online. Selama lebih dari 10 tahun terakhir penggunaan analisa jaringan media sosial untuk memprediksi dan mengidentifikasi radikalisasi online adalah area yang telah menarik perhatian beberapa peneliti selama 10 tahun terakhir. Ada beberapa algoritma, teknik, dan alat yang telah diusulkan dalam literatur yang ada untuk melawan dan memerangi cyber-ekstrimis. Dalam jurnal ini, penulis melakukan tinjauan literatur dari semua teknik yang ada dan melakukan analisis yang komprehensif untuk memahami keadaan, tren dan kesenjangan penelitian. Dalam jurnal ini dilakukan karakterisasi, klasifikasi, dan meta-anlaysis dari puluhan  jurnal untuk mendapatkan pemahaman yang lebih baik tentang literatur tentang pendeteksian ektrimis melalui sosial media intelligent

State of the art 2015: a literature review of social media intelligence capabilities for counter-terrorism

Overview This paper is a review of how information and insight can be drawn from open social media sources. It focuses on the specific research techniques that have emerged, the capabilities they provide, the possible insights they offer, and the ethical and legal questions they raise. These techniques are considered relevant and valuable in so far as they can help to maintain public safety by preventing terrorism, preparing for it, protecting the public from it and pursuing its perpetrators. The report also considers how far this can be achieved against the backdrop of radically changing technology and public attitudes towards surveillance. This is an updated version of a 2013 report paper on the same subject, State of the Art. Since 2013, there have been significant changes in social media, how it is used by terrorist groups, and the methods being developed to make sense of it.  The paper is structured as follows: Part 1 is an overview of social media use, focused on how it is used by groups of interest to those involved in counter-terrorism. This includes new sections on trends of social media platforms; and a new section on Islamic State (IS). Part 2 provides an introduction to the key approaches of social media intelligence (henceforth ‘SOCMINT’) for counter-terrorism. Part 3 sets out a series of SOCMINT techniques. For each technique a series of capabilities and insights are considered, the validity and reliability of the method is considered, and how they might be applied to counter-terrorism work explored. Part 4 outlines a number of important legal, ethical and practical considerations when undertaking SOCMINT work

Withdrawal to the shadows: dark social media as opportunity structures for extremism

Dark social media has been described as a home base for extremists and a breeding ground for dark participation. Beyond the description of single cases, it often remains unclear what exactly is meant by dark social media and which opportunity structures for extremism emerge on these applications. The current paper contributes to filling this gap. We present a theoretical framework conceptualizing dark social media as opportunity structures shaped by (a) regulation on the macro-level; (b) different genres and types of (dark) social media as influence factors on the meso level; and (c) individual attitudes, salient norms, and technological affordances on the micro-level. The results of a platform analysis and a scoping review identified meaningful differences between dark social media of different types. Particularly social counter-media and fringe communities positioned themselves as "safe havens" for dark participation, indicating a high tolerance for accordant content. This makes them a fertile ground for those spreading extremist worldviews, consuming such content, or engaging in dark participation. Context-bound alternative social media were comparable to mainstream social media but oriented towards different legal spaces and were more intertwined with governments in China and Russia. Private-first channels such as Instant messengers were rooted in private communication. Yet, particularly Telegram also included far-reaching public communication formats and optimal opportunities for the convergence of mass, group, and interpersonal communication. Overall, we show that a closer examination of different types and genres of social media provides a more nuanced understanding of shifting opportunity structures for extremism in the digital realm

Prize Philanthropy: Benefits, Challenges, and Winning Approaches

Prizes have long been used to recognize achievement and advance innovation and effective solutions. In recent years, prize philanthropy, the use of monetary prizes to recognize achievements or drive developments that benefit society has become more popular among a wider segment of donors. This guide was created to help philanthropists decide whether and how to use prize philanthropy to achieve their goals