The concept of online radicalisation has become ubiquitous in discussions around terrorism. Policymakers regularly highlight it as a key threat. French President Emmanuel Macron and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May established a joint UK-French initiative to tackle online radicalisation, including stronger regulations against tech companies that fail to remove terrorist content, which was endorsed by the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte1. The EU Council also highlighted the danger of online radicalisation, vowing to counter it using several methods including disruption of terrorists’ use of the Internet and by challenging groups’ ideologies2. It is a concern for law enforcement too; the most recent Europol Terrorism Situation and Trend Report points to the threat from right-wing lone actor terrorists who have radicalised online as being one of the most significant threats3, while the FBI emphasise the danger too, suggesting that terrorists often radicalise online and mobilise to violence quickly4. However, in recent years, there have been critiques of the concept and suggestions that it is not fit for purpose.
Author: Joe Whittaker
This paper was presented at the 4th conference of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) Advisory Network on terrorism and propaganda, 14-15 March 2023, at Europol Headquarters, The Hague. The views expressed are the authors’ own and do not necessarily represent those of Europol.
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