Tech Against Terrorism

This week, we’re exploring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban - an Islamist terrorist organisation known for its violent activities and ideological alignment with the Afghan Taliban.  In the episode, we discuss TTP’s evolution, its recent resurgence, and how it’s using propaganda to further its strategic goals. We’ll also unpack TTP’s online activities and how its official media arm has significantly enhanced its operations since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, playing an important role in the group’s resurgenceJoin Anne Craanen as she speaks to Dr Amira Jadoon, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Clemson University, and Dr Antonio Giustozzi, a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services InstituteYou can read a transcript of this episode here.Tech Against Terrorism’s Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) has recently added TTP to its Inclusion Policy, alerting its official content to tech platforms. You can find our blog explaining the reasons why here.If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re discussing the rapidly evolving phenomenon of deepfakes powered by generative AI technology. We explore how deepfakes are being manipulated for malign purposes, including by terrorist and violent extremist actors. And we consider how this threat might develop as technology improves and what this means for terrorist propaganda, online disinformation, and global security. We also ask what tech platforms, the media and policymakers should be doing to get ahead of this threat.  Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Daniel Byman, Senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. And Chris Meserole, Director of the Brookings Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative and a fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution. You can read a transcript of this episode here. If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re exploring the use of memes in the context of terrorism and violent extremism. Throughout the episode, we consider why memes are being used by terrorist and violent extremist actors, how they’re spread online and why their meaning is often hidden to ordinary internet users. We also look at some of the challenges this poses for tech platform moderators trying to counter their spread and what tech companies can do to address this issue. Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Arthur Bradley, OSINT Manager at Tech Against Terrorism. We’re also joined by Blyth Crawford, an Analyst at Moonshot and Research Fellow and PhD Candidate in War Studies, The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King’s College London and Moustafa Ayad, Executive Director for Africa, Middle East and Asia, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). You can read a transcript of this episode here.  If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re looking into the contested term “borderline content”, using antisemitism as a case study for how terrorist and violent extremist (TVE) actors sanitise extremist content. We learn more about what borderline content is in practice, its strategic use for TVE actors, and what makes it so difficult to moderate. We also consider the potential consequences of allowing borderline content to spread on mainstream social media platforms and discuss what tech platforms and policymakers should be doing to tackle it. Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Isabelle Arnson, Senior Policy Analyst at Tech Against Terrorism  and Head of Tech Against Terrorism Europe (TATE). And Hannah Rose, a PhD Candidate in War Studies at King's College London and a Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR). You can read a transcript of this episode here.If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re exploring the spread of online disinformation in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We unpack the shifting online ecosystem around the conflict, and track pro-Kremlin narratives and disinformation campaigns both domestically and abroad. We also ask who’s behind these narratives and on which platforms they are being spread. Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Jordan Wildon, a Digital Investigator, Telegram expert and Founder & CEO of Prose Intelligence. And Charlie Winter, Co-Founder and Director of Research at ExTrac.You can read a transcript of this episode here. If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week on the Tech Against Terrorism podcast, we’re heading to Canada to speak to two of the country's leading experts who are working to counter terrorism and violent extremism through the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence. Hear how the centre leads the Government of Canada's efforts to counter radicalisation to violence through a number of initiatives, including its Community Resilience Fund. Plus, how we at Tech Against Terrorism are working with the Centre to expand the Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP), the world’s largest database of verified terrorist content.Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Brett Kubicek, Research Manager, and Robert Burley, Executive Director at the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.Read our full report on terrorist designation here. You can read a transcript of this episode here. If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic. 

With the help of our expert guests, we explore what hybrid threats are in the context of online terrorism and violent extremism. We consider why this hybridisation has increased in recent years and how online extremism has blurred and overlapped with other online harms such as disinformation and conspiracy theory movements. We also touch on “grey area” content, consider whether algorithms promote more hateful or extreme narratives online, and discuss what the tech sector and policymakers can do to tackle hybrid threats online. Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Dr Bettina Rottweiler, a Research Fellow at University College London (UCL) where she specialises in researching risk and protective factors for violent extremism. And Milo Comerford, Head of Policy & Research at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which specialises in research and policy advice on hate, extremism, and disinformation. You can read a transcript of this episode here.  If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re looking at how the internet is regulated in India. We consider what the current landscape looks like, what this means for tech platforms operating in the market and how this is impacting platforms’ online counterterrorism and content moderation efforts.Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Tanmay Singh, Senior Litigation Counsel at the Internet Freedom Foundation. And Jyoti Panday, a researcher at the Internet Governance Project (IGP) at the Georgia Institute of Technology.We unpack the recent legislation - the 2021 Information and Technology (IT) Rules - highlighting how they relate to global trends in regulating online content. Plus, we outline how civic engagement can influence online regulation. You can read a transcript of this episode here.If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter. To find out more about global online regulation, read our analysis in the Online Regulation Series.

This week, we’re looking at how violent Islamist organisations such as Islamic State disseminate propaganda online, particularly through the exploitation of file-sharing platforms.  Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Professor Stuart Macdonald and Connor Rees from Swansea University about their data-driven research which explores pro-IS use of file-sharing platforms for propaganda dissemination. The episode addresses how and why Islamic State and their supporters have had to develop such a sophisticated strategy for spreading their message. We also consider how data-driven research by academia can help inform a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach to countering the threat of terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet. Download the full report, Remove, Impede, Disrupt, Redirect: Understanding & Combating Pro-Islamic State Use of File-Sharing Platforms here. You can read a transcript of this episode here. If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter, where you can find resources on this topic. 

This week, we’re exploring the concept of deplatforming. We explain what deplatforming is, how tech company attitudes towards content removal have evolved over the years and consider whether there’s a case for allowing some “borderline” content to remain on platforms. Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Dr Joe Whittaker, a lecturer in Cyber Threats, Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy at Swansea University. Dr Whittaker has carried out extensive research focusing on online radicalisation, including looking into the role deplatforming plays in radicalisation online. He shares some of the unintended consequences of deplatforming and explains why he believes tech platforms now need a broader strategy to tackle terrorist and violent extremist content online. You can read a transcript of this episode here.If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter, where you can find resources on this topic.