Young people and violent extremism on social media: research mapping

Can social media lead fragile individuals to resort to violence? Many people believe censorship, surveillance and online counter-discourse are the best ways to prevent violence.

But what do we really know about the influence of the internet? What are the effects of such methods on youths? Around the world, governments and internet companies are making decisions based on assumptions about the causes and solutions to violent attacks. We work to provide a solid foundation for analysis and responses. We help to implement policies based on facts and evidence, rather than intuition and fear-mongering.

In this context, UNESCO commissioned us to lead a study named “Youths and Violent Extremism in Social Media” which maps out worldwide research (mainly between 2012 and 2016) on the presumed roles of social media in violent radicalization processes, especially with regard to their influence on young people and women.

Youth and Violent Extremism in Social Media: Mapping Research, Alava, Seraphin, Frau-Meigs, Divina, Hassan, Ghayda.

Part of the government’s efforts to prevent radicalization and violent extremism is to protect people’s minds against radicalization through institutionally-supported counter-discourse initiatives. To awaken the public’s critical sense, counter-discourse campaigns are conducted, notably via social networks, while others are developed through cultural, educational and artistic actions. As part of the monitoring of the State’s action and with a view to improving the public policies implemented, an approach to evaluating counter-discourse campaigns supported by the SG-CIPDR has been undertaken on a national scale since 2018. BVA, with the association “Les militants des savoirs”, have set up a campaign to evaluate the impact of OnLine and OffLine counter-discourses.The objectives of the evaluation of these tools and resources are: - To evaluate the production of counter-discourses- To identify and validate the rhetorical forms of conviction and argumentation- To identify their cognitive, emotional and performative impact. To achieve this, the association, in partnership with the BVA agency, has set up an original system for gathering young people’s opinions, based on a long immersion with them. The evaluation will enable us to better understand how educational tools and devices can help bring about change and prevent extreme violence.