Potential Terrorists Can Be Identified From Social Media Posts -- University of Bath

University of Bath

August 2, 2024

Researchers at the University of Bath have identified signals in social media posts that can predict when someone posting on far-right forums is likely to go on to commit a terrorist act.

Posts that related specifically to logistics, operational planning (including knowledge about weapons and avoiding law enforcement) and violent action marked out individuals who would go on to perpetrate terror offenses. This was evident up to four years before criminal action.

In the first study of its kind, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the team compared posts of convicted far-right terrorists with posts from people holding far-right extremist views who have not gone on to commit violence offline.

The majority of offenders were convicted in the United States (75 percent), with 20 percent convicted in the United Kingdom and the remaining 5 percent in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

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READ MORE; Phys.org