Click Here Violence for the sake of violence
Nov 18, 2025
Allison Nixon, Chief Research Officer at Unit 221B and expert in online predator networks, dives into the disturbing world of digital extremism. She highlights how groups like 764 seduce marginalized youth through emotional manipulation and economic incentives. The conversation addresses the evolution from belief-based radicalization to nihilistic violence for visibility. Nixon reveals grooming tactics like love bombing, and explains how the pandemic intensified these predatory networks, making the need for effective interventions more urgent than ever.
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Attention Replaces Ideology
- Groups like 764 recruit people who feel invisible and offer them attention as a form of meaning.
- Dina Temple-Raston compares this hunger for recognition to the appeal ISIS once held for young recruits.
Teen Drawn To ISIS For Adventure
- Abdullahi, a 17-year-old in Minnesota, watched ISIS videos and found them magnetic rather than religious.
- The appeal was adventure and belonging, not theology, according to Dina Temple-Raston's interview.
Online Is The New Ideology
- Extremism now often originates online in encrypted channels, not from real-world movements migrating online.
- Milo Comerford argues online interaction itself functions as the new ideology driving radicalization.