Adult Online Hate, Harassment and Abuse: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

The development of email and social media platforms has changed the way in which people interact with each other. The open sharing of personal data in public forums has resulted in online harassment in its many forms becoming increasingly problematic. The number of people having negative online experiences is increasing, with close to half of adult internet users reporting having seen hateful content online in the past year. This report presents findings from a collaborative study undertaken by the University of East London (UEL) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). It describes the findings from a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of the evidence base in relation to adult online safety undertaken on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). The research was undertaken on behalf of the UK Council for Internet Safety Evidence Group. This REA focuses on exploring internet safety issues amongst adults, given the expansion of the remit of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) to include adults in the context of the new Internet Safety Strategy (2018) and Online Harms White Paper (2019)

Community perspectives of terrorism and the Nigerian government’s counterterrorism strategies: A systematic review

Terrorism and insecurity pose significant global concern and Nigeria has been bedevilled by Boko Haram – a terrorist group deemed one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world. While the Nigerian government have adopted concerted counterterrorism approaches to tackle terrorism, very limited success seems to have been achieved and the synthesis of community perspectives of government interventions appears lacking. This study makes an original and significant contribution by adopting a systematic review approach to synthesise existing studies on community perspective on the drivers of involvement in terrorism and on Nigerian government’s responses. Six databases were searched, and 21 studies met the review criteria. Informed by thematic analysis principles and the conceptual framework of synthesis, the study finds a sense of disconnect between the government approach to counterterrorism and community perspectives. The study recommends a context-specific community informed response to insecurity towards improving existing counterterrorism measures