DECODING EXTREMISM: CAN MEDIA LITERACY COUNTER ONLINE
LYNN DAVIES
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?
Join the riots!
PROCESSES AND SITES OF ONLINE RADICALISA TION
Mixed Unclear Unstable White suprema cy Antisemitism Islamop hobia
Interrupt
Ideology
misinfor mation
misogyn y 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.
INTERSECTIONS OF GENDER, VIOLENCE AND EXTREMISM
• Toxic masculinity
• 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
www.connectfutu res.org
• 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
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
ONLINE PROBLEMS, OFFLINE SOLUTIONS?
www.connectfutu
res.org
Critical thinking and solution focused thinking
Understanding the sales pitch, and how groups exploit vulnerabilities, emotions and desires esp grooming line
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 exploitation- especially 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
Intervention -what can we do if yps are already involved in risky, dangerous thinking and/or behaviours?
• 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…
The data is good, but did it tell the whole story?
NOTHING BUT THE 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
