Tangled Web

The report provides a cross-platform analysis of harmful online activity in the UK, identifying a complex ecosystem where disinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremism interlink. Using a dataset of 768 UK-relevant accounts, the study finds that while explicit hate speech is a small proportion of total messaging, extremist actors maintain significant reach on platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The research highlights a 'hybridised' threat landscape where anti-vaccine and anti-government narratives often blend into overt white supremacy, and notes a growing migration toward 'alt-tech' platforms such as Bitchute and Odysee.

• Accounts associated with hate speech and extremist content are more easily discoverable on the studied platforms than those associated with terrorism. Of the 768 UK-relevant accounts identified, only 55 met the project's definition of terrorism, with 42 of those supporting proscribed groups linked to Northern Ireland-related terrorism.
• There is significant overlap and linguistic continuity between harmful conspiracists and white nationalist communities. Natural language processing identified nine interlinked linguistic communities, showing a spectrum that blends Covid-19 conspiracies, anti-immigration narratives, and opposition to the LGBTQ+ community.
• Major social media platforms continue to host high-reach extremist content. Islamist extremist accounts on Facebook averaged over 568,000 followers among the top four accounts, while the largest UK extreme-right channel on YouTube had close to 2 million subscribers and some far-right Telegram channels exceeded 150,000 subscribers.
• YouTube is the most frequently linked-to platform by the studied harmful actors, accounting for 78% of all external platform links (over 50,000 links). Additionally, accounts on 4chan, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook regularly directed followers to Telegram.
• There is a notable trend of UK-relevant harmful actors linking to 'alt-tech' platforms. Bitchute, Odysee, Gettr, and Rumble were each linked to more frequently than Facebook, Instagram, or Reddit.
• Explicit hate speech constitutes a very small fraction of the total messages sent by the identified harmful accounts, representing only 0.35% of overall messages. This suggests that extremists often promote supremacist worldviews through 'grey area' content that avoids overt dehumanisation to evade moderation.
• Among the detected hate speech, the highest proportion targeted individuals based on national origin (47%), followed by anti-Muslim hate speech (24%), antisemitism (15%), and anti-black hate speech (7%).
• Engagement levels varied by platform: 4chan's /pol/ board saw the highest volume of UK user activity with 1,891,328 comments. Telegram channels received 95,388,986 cumulative views, and YouTube videos from associated accounts were viewed 37,429,616 times.

APA

Comerford, M., Davey, J., Guhl, J., & Miller, C. (2023). Tangled Web. Institute for Strategic Dialogue. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tangled-Web.pdf

Chicago

Comerford, Milo, Jacob Davey, Jakob Guhl, and Carl Miller. Tangled Web. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2023. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tangled-Web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Comerford |first1=Milo |last2=Davey |first2=Jacob |last3=Guhl |first3=Jakob |last4=Miller |first4=Carl |title=Tangled Web |publisher=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |date=2023 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tangled-Web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{comerford2023tangled, author = {Comerford, Milo and Davey, Jacob and Guhl, Jakob and Miller, Carl}, title = {{Tangled Web}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tangled-Web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }