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The document argues that transparency is a prerequisite for public trust and democratic accountability in the digital sphere. It critiques current corporate transparency reports as insufficient, citing evidence that platforms like Facebook often underreport the scale of coordinated inauthentic activity. The report details a shift from 'notice-and-takedown' content regulation toward 'systemic' approaches, such as 'Safety by Design,' which require platforms to mitigate risks through their architecture and algorithms. It provides a detailed analysis of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK's Online Safety Bill (OSB), highlighting their tiered obligations based on platform size and the introduction of independent audits. Finally, it presents five theoretical models of internet governance—Corporate, Autocratic, Libertarian, Machine, and EU/Liberal-Democratic—to illustrate the geopolitical struggle over the future of digital sovereignty and human rights.

The report details the transition from the term 'climate dictatorship' to 'climate lockdown' in German social media, identifying key political triggers and the role of platforms like Telegram in fusing climate skepticism with broader conspiracy theories such as the Great Reset.

The report analyzes over 400,000 social media posts to identify how vaccine disinformation in Germany is spread through interconnected networks of right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists, and proponents of alternative medicine. It identifies six primary narratives used to undermine trust in vaccines and health institutions, noting a significant increase in followers on platforms like Telegram and Instagram. The study highlights the transition of online disinformation into offline violence and protests, while recommending the involvement of general practitioners as trusted messengers to counter these trends.

The document provides a comprehensive analysis of the shift from content-based 'notice-and-takedown' regulation to systemic 'safety-by-design' approaches. It evaluates the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK's Online Safety Bill, emphasizing the need for transparency, data access for researchers, and a balance between state, corporate, and individual power to protect liberal democratic values in the digital sphere.

The report identifies a rapidly growing, cross-platform Salafi ecosystem targeting Gen-Z, characterized by a shift from traditional long-form sermons to gamified and memetic content. It highlights the emergence of 'Islamogram' and the 'akh-right' subculture, which adopts alt-right aesthetics and tactics to wage a digital insurgency against liberal Muslims and democratic values. While much content remains focused on general religious guidance, the research identifies significant 'toxicity'—including sectarianism and misogyny—and notes a concerning convergence between Salafi and far-right online behaviors. The authors argue that traditional classifications of Salafism (quietist, politico, jihadist) are insufficient for this hybrid environment and recommend a move away from purely securitised responses toward a more nuanced, data-driven approach that addresses both the supply of charismatic influencers and the demand driven by legitimate socio-political grievances.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) analyzed 1,030 TikTok videos to assess the state of hate and extremism on the platform. The research found significant amounts of content promoting white supremacy, glorifying terrorists and fascists, and denying genocides. The report highlights a substantial 'enforcement gap,' noting that 81.5% of the sampled hateful videos remained live during the study. It further details how TikTok's creative tools—such as Duets, Stitches, and specific 'Sounds'—are repurposed to spread hate, and how users employ evasion tactics like 'respawned' accounts and alternative hashtag spellings to bypass bans.

The report analyzes how right-wing actors, particularly the AfD, instrumentalized the climate debate during the 2021 German federal election. It finds that while the AfD published the lowest percentage of climate-related content, its posts achieved significantly higher engagement than those of other parties. The study identifies a shift from outright climate denial toward a 'culture war' strategy, using disinformation narratives such as 'denial and delay' and 'absolution' to frame climate action as a threat to the German lifestyle. The analysis also highlights a stark platform divide, with Twitter predominantly hosting pro-climate messages and Facebook serving as a hub for climate-skeptical content.

The report identifies a resilient and multifaceted online ecosystem for Canadian right-wing extremists (RWEs), noting that while mainstream platform enforcement (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) removes some content, new channels quickly emerge. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a significant driver of activity, with 38.8% of coded messages relating to the pandemic, often focusing on conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment. Canadian RWEs exhibit a strong internationalist outlook, mentioning the US more than Canada. While overt hate speech is a small proportion of total activity on mainstream sites, fringe platforms like 4chan and Telegram host more explicit racism, neo-Nazi imagery, and accelerationist content, including instructional material for violence. The report recommends government regulation of platforms, algorithmic auditing, and international coordination on RWE designations.

The report examines 34 Irish far-right Telegram channels, revealing a massive increase in activity between 2019 and 2020. It details how these communities use the platform's limited moderation to target minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and political opponents through orchestrated disinformation campaigns. Case studies show the far-right's role in inciting racial tension following the shooting of George Nkencho, spreading false claims about a house fire in Balbriggan, and launching a homophobic smear campaign against Minister Roderic O'Gorman. The analysis also highlights a significant intersection between far-right actors and COVID-19 conspiracy networks.

The document outlines a two-pronged research architecture designed to analyze New Zealand-specific online extremism and international extremist activity targeting New Zealand. It defines extremism based on 'social identity' and the pursuit of in-group supremacy, focusing on far-right, far-left, and Islamist ideologies. The methodology employs a combination of qualitative ethnographic research, API-based data collection, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) for thematic classification. The authors emphasize a strict ethical framework prioritizing anonymity, the use of public data only, and the production of aggregated outputs to balance individual privacy with public safety.

The report identifies a network of nearly 5,000 social media accounts producing over 280,000 messages in 2020 to spread anti-refugee disinformation. It highlights how key events, such as the Evros border crisis and the Moria camp fires, served as flashpoints for transnational mobilisation. The research demonstrates a significant overlap between mainstream political parties—such as the AfD in Germany and New Democracy in Greece—and far-right extremist ecosystems. Common narratives include the 'Great Replacement' conspiracy, the depiction of refugees as 'invaders' or 'soldiers', and the targeting of NGOs with claims of criminal complicity in human smuggling. The report concludes that anti-migrant discourse is increasingly transnational and integrated into broader geopolitical tensions, such as Greek-Turkish relations.

The report 'Together for Safety 21 Ways Forward' outlines strategies for urban leaders to combat extremism and polarisation, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. It identifies trends such as the 'gamification of extremism' and the use of conspiracy theories by right-wing and jihadist groups to target minorities and youth. The document provides 21 guiding principles across four themes: preventing extremism post-pandemic, countering online hate, securing public spaces, and empowering youth. Key recommendations include adopting evidence-based 'hot spot mapping', investing in youth-led organisations, and strengthening mental health initiatives to build community resilience.

The report analyses the Facebook activity of 43 far-right and 31 far-left pages, and 9 public groups in Australia during the first seven months of 2020. It finds that while both sides use 'us versus them' narratives, opposition to the far-right is more central to far-left identity than vice versa. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement served as primary catalysts for activity, with the far-right weaponising the pandemic to promote anti-China and xenophobic narratives, while the far-left focused on labour rights and police violence. The study notes that far-right groups were more likely to promote violence against the left than the far-left was against the right.

The briefing argues that contemporary national populists in Europe employ a systematic strategy to capture the state by eroding liberal norms, dominating the information space, and subordinating the judiciary and civil service. By treating the government as a 'contractor' for a national majority, these movements justify the removal of institutional restraints to concentrate power in the executive. The author details a multi-stage assault involving 'trolling', 'building' parallel infrastructures, and 'automating' disinformation to create a facade of democracy while maintaining an effective monopoly on power.

The report provides a case study of the Fuouaris Upload network, a pro-ISIS ecosystem on Facebook that used account hijacking, content masking, and coordinated 'raids' to spread propaganda. Between April 7 and July 3, 2020, researchers tracked 288 accounts, finding that a core group of 90 was controlled by a single user, Luqmen Ben Tachafin. The network expanded to SoundCloud and utilized multilingual communities (including Indonesian, Somali, and Albanian) to bypass moderation. The report highlights the use of COVID-19 narratives to celebrate death tolls and the exploitation of virtual phone number apps to hijack accounts, arguing that Facebook's reliance on AI and hashing is insufficient without 'street level' understanding of extremist tactics.

The report analyses a network of 208 Telegram channels, finding that the platform's limited content moderation makes it a 'safe space' for white supremacists to share pro-terrorist content, tactical guides for violence, and anti-minority hate speech. It highlights a shift toward a 'post-organisational' model of extremism where online networks replace formal group affiliations. The analysis reveals high interconnectivity between channels, the use of 'boogaloo' civil war narratives, and the glorification of lone-actor terrorists.

The report finds that QAnon activity on Facebook grew month-on-month from April to September 2020, with engagement nearly doubling between April and August. This growth was driven by 'superspreaders'—personal profiles that mass-proliferate disinformation—and the co-opting of mainstream movements like 'Save the Children' and COVID-19 concerns. The analysis reveals a heavy reliance on 'Red-rated' unreliable news sites, though mainstream sources are often distorted to fit the narrative. Despite Facebook's October 2020 ban on QAnon pages and groups, the report argues the action came too late and was insufficient because personal profiles continued to promote the conspiracy. The research also documents the internationalization of QAnon, with significant activity in Germany, France, Italy, and Brazil, often localized to target regional elites.

The report identifies a significant online presence of right-wing extremism in Canada, involving 6,660 accounts and channels across seven platforms with a collective reach of over 11 million users. While ethnonationalists are the most prevalent group on mainstream platforms like Facebook and Twitter, explicit white supremacist activity is concentrated on fringe sites such as Iron March and Fascist Forge. The study finds that RWE activity spikes around key events, specifically the Christchurch attack and the 2019 Canadian federal election, with anti-Muslim and anti-Trudeau rhetoric serving as primary drivers of conversation. Offline findings indicate a growth in RWE activity in the Maritime provinces and an increasing fascination with paramilitary training and weaponry among groups like the Three Percenters.

The report maps the 'online ecosystem' of the German far-right, identifying 379 channels across ten alternative platforms. It finds that while these platforms provide safe havens for extremist discourse, they generally have a much smaller reach than mainstream platforms. The study suggests that banning extremists from mainstream sites reduces their overall reach and does not lead to a direct mass migration to alternative platforms. It also highlights the role of 'alt-media' in amplifying far-right narratives, such as the 'great replacement' myth, which are rarely prominent in mainstream media.

The report finds that women and candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds are disproportionately targeted by systemic online abuse on social media. On Twitter, abusive messages accounted for 15-39% of content directed at female candidates, compared to 5-10% for men. On Facebook, female Democrats received ten times more abusive comments than their male counterparts. The abuse directed at women is frequently gendered, attacking physical appearance and competence, while abuse toward men is generally focused on political stances. The authors argue that self-regulation by tech companies is insufficient and recommend that democratic governments implement mandatory transparency and accountability for algorithmic systems and content moderation processes.