Violent Extremism Online ─ New perspectives on Ttrrorism and the Internet

This book explores the interface between terrorism and the Internet and presents contemporary approaches to understanding extremism online.

The main themes covered in the book are:

• Terrorist propaganda on the internet;

• Internet radicalisation;

• Counter campaigns and approaches to disrupting internet radicalisation;

• Approaches to researching and understanding the role of the internet in radicalisation.

Together, these four themes can be loosely grouped into two broad foci: (i) the phenomenon of online radicalisation through explorations of terrorists’ use of the internet; and, (ii) responses to this phenomenon through explorations of the policy and research agendas dealing with the growing influence of the internet in violent extremism. As such the book covers issues ranging along the gamut of how terrorists use the internet to how governments are responding to the increasing risk posed by exposure to online terroristic content.

Existing books on terrorism and the internet tend to cover only one discrete aspect, such as terrorist use of the internet for propaganda, or are grounded in only one research discipline such as information technology. This book brings together expertise from different disciplines and different regions (Europe, the US, Canada and Australia) in a volume that explores some of the outstanding questions, such as the role of the internet in radicalisation; the reasons why terroristic propaganda is or is not influencing violent extremists; the role of political conflict in online radicalisation and the future of research into terrorism and the internet. This range of interests has never before been covered by a single volume and the book will make a unique and timely addition to the current collections on a growing and international market.

This book will be of much interest to students of cyber-security, internet politics, terrorism studies, media and communications studies, and IR generally.

Anne Aly is a research fellow in the Department of Social Science and International Studies at Curtin University, Australia.

Lee Jarvis is an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at Swansea University.

Stuart Macdonald is an Associate Professor in Law at Swansea University, and Deputy Director of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Tom Chen is a Professor in Networks at Swansea University.