Lynn Davies

DECODING EXTREMISM: CAN MEDIA LITERACY COUNTER ONLINE LYNN DAVIES RADICALISATION? UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM CONNECTFUTURES

RESEARCHING | TRAINING | FACILITATING

We have worked directly with: • 196,043 young people • 15,000 teachers & practitioners, • 20,000 members of the public • & reached millions online

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS VIDEO?

PPPROCE Hate Join the riots!

PROCESSES AND SITES OF ONLINE RADICALISA TION

violence

Islamop hobia

Antisemitism

Ideology

Interrupt

White suprema cy

misinfor mation

misogyn y Mixed Unclear Unstable

gamifica tion

DIGITAL INFORMATION DISORDER • Informaencapsulates concepts of

• misinformation • disinformation • malinformation • propaganda

•

presented by • making false connections • misleading content • false context • imposter content • manipulated content • fabricated content fogging (mess of data so you don’t know what to believe)

EYE WATERING ESCALATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT April 2025 • Counter Extremism Project found 8 accounts on Tiktok that glorified white supremacist mass shooters; Instagram 14 accounts pro ISIS [plus weekly newsletters) • Algorithms used by misogynistic content show 4 fold increase on Tiktok • Dramatic rise in fake political content in Canada pre-election • Role of internet in radicalisation pathways most evident for older than younger people; 52% of adults in UK use social media as a form of news consumption, but they are not digital natives • One in five ‘self-injury’ search results glorifies, celebrates or instructs harmful behaviour • Youth Endowment Fund found 70% of teen respondents have encountered some form of real-world violence online in the past 12 months.

MANIFESTATIONS: ONLINE SPACES

www.connectfutu res.org

CONSPIRACY AND HATE

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• Toxic masculinity

INTERSECTIONS OF GENDER, VIOLENCE AND EXTREMISM

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• Violence against women justified by religious ideology • Youth Endowment Fund 2024 reveals that 33% of teenage children have seen content on social media encouraging violence against women and girls • Gender based disinformation – female journalists and politicians disproportionately harassed and threatened through disinformation • Misogynist radicalization – misogyny as a feature of right-wing terrorism

ONLINE SPACES: INCELS

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MANIFESTATIONS: ONLINE GAMING

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TYPES OF MEDIA LITERACY TO BUILD A RESILIENT INDIVIDUAL OR COMMUNITY • Technical – learning about algorithms, filter bubbles, echo-chambers,

anger chambers, manipulation by A!, how social media ‘influencers’ are used

• Source checking: Awareness of motivations of content generators, intersections of hatred, violence and ideology, conspiracy theorists, political weaponization of AI

• Legal – what constitutes hate speech and the difference to free speech; financial harms; human rights based approaches

• Moral/ethical – digital citizenship, reciprocity, being nice on the internet

• Active and participatory – content creation, making propaganda, dialogue, discussion, deep listening

Critical thinking and solution focused thinking Understanding the sales pitch, and how groups exploit vulnerabilities, emotions and desires esp grooming line

ONLINE PROBLEMS, OFFLINE SOLUTIONS?

Understanding realities and consequences Counter and alternative narratives -“Make decisions with your goals, ambitions and loved ones in mind.”

Connecting extremism to other forms of exploitationespecially gangs and criminal exploitation Practical tips to stay safe -what can yps actually do in Reality? 'Question everything, speaking to trustworthy adults, being aware of being befriended and groomed

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Intervention -what can we do if yps are already involved in risky, dangerous thinking and/or behaviours?

Hate Crime Reporting: https://www.report-it.org.uk/reporting_internet_hate_crime https://tellmamauk.org/

ONLINE PROBLEMS, ONLINE SOLUTIONS?

www.connectfutures.org

https://www.stophateuk.org/about-us/about-stop-hate-helplines/ https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism

CASE STUDY: EDUCATION PROGRAMME Our Fake News programme aims to build resilience to mis/disinformation on and offline that can lead to extremism.

• 4 LONDON SITES: We ran this project across 4 different London boroughs • 4 SESSIONS: The programme contained 4 activity led sessions • SUPPORTIVE EXTERNAL EVALUATOR: conducting impact and change analysis via surveys and qualitative data collection

THE WHOLE TRUTH? We surveyed over 150 young participants and found: • 90% participants better understood misinformation • 85% participants were more likely to report Fake News if they spotted it online • 90% of participants felt confident they could identify trustworthy people in their lives

BUT…

NOTHING BUT THE The data is good, but did it tell the whole story?

TRUTH? There is more to learn, for the sake of programme improvement, in what was NOT said in our outcome data.

• Participants surveyed did not account for the whole cohort • No evidence that surveys completed meant full access to programme; hard to claim responsibility…?

• High and complex needs of young people meant many could not access the surveys • Best practice in P/CVE measured in skills harder to access by young people with literality-based thinking styles • No involvement from young people in the evaluation methodology

SO WHICH OF ALL THE STRATEGIES IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE? • Different cohorts respond to different inputs (ranging from excluded, neuro-diverse, non-verbal students to parents and professionals). Should respond to their needs, not ours?

• Little evidence that counter-narratives work much if top-down BUT • Research is starting to show that persuasion is less effective than participation. This means allowing participants to create their own content or narratives in pursuit of a purpose that they have defined, and using dialogue and interpersonal communication with a range of people. [although interventions difficult if schools do not allow phones in class] • Young people can be involved in training their peers – and adults (who often know less about social media than the YP do)

AND WHAT ABOUT THE FAMILY? •Parents and family may also be extremists, accepting and sharing extremist content •Even if not ideologically motivated, parents may also be involved in violent disorder, for example taking part in riots and believing misinformation OSCE research in Europe on role of parental engagement found the need to tackle the whole family in ML •Parents were insufficiently involved in ML activity in schools •Parents given advice on monitoring their child’s activity etc, but were not part of community action or deciding home-school initiatives •Therefore need for joint training, discussion, information exchange, development of resrouces, and joint action such as advocacy or

THREE MAIN CONCLUSIONS

Hard to find lasting evidence of what works in media literacy in a fast changing world and with diverse target groups, but basic needs emerge for:

1. Not just one-way persuasion but broadly based active participation 2. Gender-sensitive and intersectional understanding and approach 3. Involvement of adults and parents within a community context

THANK YOU

Any Questions?

www.connectfutures.org info@connectfutures.org @connectfutures