rethinking the law of armed conflict in an age of terrorism google

Online radicalization is here understood as a process during which individuals get exposed to, imitate and internalize extremist beliefs and attitudes, by means of the Internet, in particular social media, and other forms of online communication.

This work is concerned with the extent and magnitude of threat related to online radicalization in the context of terrorist acts and related offending. Online radicalization as a cause for common concern This assessment, however, refers to the present only and is unlikely to hold for the future, given the general growth and acceleration of online activity among terrorist actors.

While online radicalization does occur, with and without reference to offline processes, the resulting threat is not overly high.

This is followed by a discussion of plausible, but opposing, interpretations of the estimates presented. Recent evidence from quantitative studies is reviewed to estimate prevalence of online radicalization and the level of threat that results from it. Further, it addresses current positions and debates surrounding the relevance and mechanisms of online radicalization in terrorist offending. The present work situates online radicalization leading to terrorist acts within the wider context of grievance-based beliefs and attitudes. This is most pronounced in the discussion of so-called lone actor terrorism, but extends to all forms of extremist offending, and beyond. Online influences have been depicted as major drivers for the propagation and adoption of extremist ideologies, which often contain an element of collective grievance, and subsequent acts of violence.

Rethinking the law of armed conflict in an age of terrorism google