Power-Law Online Terrorism and Extremism

This Research Note draws attention to the ubiquity of heavy-tailed, power-law types of data distribution in all major dimensions of digital extremism and terrorism, and discusses the important implications stemming from this pattern as well as the mechanisms underpinning it. Highly unequal distribut...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Baele, Stéphane J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Perspectives on terrorism
Year: 2025, Volume: 19, Issue: 2, Pages: 113-126
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Keywords:
Online extremism
power-law
heavy-tailed distributions
Terrorism
Description
Summary:This Research Note draws attention to the ubiquity of heavy-tailed, power-law types of data distribution in all major dimensions of digital extremism and terrorism, and discusses the important implications stemming from this pattern as well as the mechanisms underpinning it. Highly unequal distributions with a very long lower tail and a sharply rising upper tail indeed characterize linguistic content, individual behaviours, and overarching structures of extremist/terrorist digital ecosystems ? a striking feature that has largely escaped terrorism and extremism scholars? scrutiny as well as Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) and Counter-Terrorism (CT) practitioners, despite its scientific and practical significance.
ISSN:2334-3745
DOI:10.19165/FGGW5148