Panel 7D: Innovation and emergent issues
Chair: Dr Katy Vaughan (Swansea University)
Beyond Videos: Unearthing Transphobic Communities on YouTube Lydia Channon (Swansea University) Dr Nicola Mathieson (University of Liverpool)
Abstract: This paper investigates the dynamics of transphobic content and its spread by examining how users engage with transphobic content on YouTube. To do so, we examine comments on the most prominent channels posting transphobic content against the actual content of videos. Terrorism and extremism research has long focused on the role of content and recommendation algorithms in the radicalisation process. We take a more nuanced approach to examine if the spread of transphobic content and narratives is driven by the content itself or through the development of community and shared ideas of users in the comments section of videos. We employ a mixed-methods research design utilising a bespoke computational analysis program to analyse the sentiment and emotions of content. By utilising both quantitative and qualitative semi-automated approaches we hope to achieve rich rigorous findings without eliminating the human-in-the-loop process but rather assisting it.
Under Pressure: Innovation in Extremist Communication Online Dr Chelsea Daymon (American University)
Abstract: Online technologies have provided extremist actors across ideological perspectives a rich environment to communicate. In recent years, pressures have been placed on extremist actors by governments, law enforcement, and the tech sector to combat and remove extremist content, including problematic accounts that violate platform terms of service, use hate speech, or incite violence. But what do extremist actors do when faced with external pressures online? This study examines online communication innovations used by extremist actors based on primary source, interview data. As the literature argues, innovation transpires to fulfil a need or solve a problem with this study exploring the techniques, tactics, and circumstances of communication innovation by extremist actors online. To this end, the study uses a mixed methods approach utilizing qualitative and quantitative analysis. Results offer policy recommendations and insights to the tech and government sectors, while also highlighting how extremist actors see themselves as far as power dynamics, their standing in the world, and their freedom to communicate
AI, Propaganda of the Deed, and Online Radicalization: An Overview and Implications Daniel E. Levenson (Swansea University)
Abstract: In the realm of threat detection, assessment, and management one of the most vexing challenges lies in identifying material shared online that has a high likelihood of inspiring individuals to commit acts of terrorism. While there is no shortage of violent and extremist content that is consumed by a large number of individuals, the number who will take action as a result of exposure to this material is relatively small. Terrorist leaders and ideologues are undoubtedly aware that their efforts to radicalize others to the point of violence is a numbers game played on a large scale, and so what we might think of as a form of “stochastic terrorism,” in which a high volume of potentially radicalizing material is shared broadly with a focus on a particular outgroup or political figure, can often be discerned in their internet activity. The barrier to entry for them is already low, but with apid advances in AI (artificial intelligence) and related technologies, the potential for bad actors to exploit video, images, and other content that floods online spaces in the aftermath of an attack, in combination with access to powerful and easily accessible AI raises a number of important questions. This presentation will look at several examples of how this stochastic approach has been employed effectively by violent extremists to inspire others to commit acts of violence attached to a particular ideology, the implications of exploitation of AI in this space by members of these movements, and suggest several different angles from which practitioners, policymakers, and researchers might approach these challenges.
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