ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue)

Online antisemitism has impacted public participation & mental health long before Oct 7. This paper outlines key challenges, including the normalisation of mainstream antisemitism, & steps to fight it, based on interviews across Europe. Read below in English, Italian, French, Swedish, German & Polish 🚨 https://lnkd.in/dNAW2YzY

Translations now available in Italian, French, Swedish, German and Polish   Jewish communities in Europe have been facing growing online antisemitism, with significant impacts on public participation and mental health, long before the October 7 attacks.  In January, ISD’s Coalition to Combat Online Antisemitism (CCOA) released a policy paper outlining the key challenges of online antisemitism and providing comprehensive, actionable steps for governments, tech platforms, regulators and civil society to combat online hate. Built from 42 interviews across France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden, this paper presents a unified pan-European strategy to address online antisemitism and calls for stronger platform accountability, legal tools and digital rights protections.  ISD is excited to announce the Executive Summary of this report is now available in Italian, French, Swedish, German and Polish.  Read it below.  https://lnkd.in/dNAW2YzY

Deadline tomorrow! ⬇️ ISD Jordan is hiring a Senior Digital Analyst to lead research on online hate speech in Jordan. The role includes methodology development, stakeholder training, dashboard oversight & reporting. Based in Jordan + remote working available. Details below! https://lnkd.in/dwhtd8r3

📢 Today, the DSA Civil Society Coordination Group, of which ISD is a proud member, released its brief: Initial Analysis on the First Round of Risk Assessment Reports under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).    The purpose of this feedback is to identify key trends, useful practices and gaps in this first round of risk assessments, so that future iterations of these reports are more tangible and do more to advance user safety. Center for Democracy & Technology You can read the full brief below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gkkQSpdi

ISD’s Milo Comerford was recently featured in “The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram,” an investigation led by ProPublica and FRONTLINE. The Terrorgram Collective is a global white supremacist organization based entirely online. Read more here. https://lnkd.in/dU_b9bSH Milo will also be featured in the accompanying FRONTLINE documentary based on the investigation. The full documentary premieres March 25 at 10 p.m. EDT on PBS and will be available to stream on YouTube and the FRONTLINE website.

ISD's Sina Laubenstein Medina joined experts at the Mobile World Congress – Europe’s largest mobile tech trade fair – for a panel with Deutsche Telekom. She explained why addressing disinformation does not undermine free expression, the role of critical thinking and the need for measures like the DSA. Watch the full video below ⬇️ #MWC2025 https://lnkd.in/dhtg8h5r

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"His ideology is neither new, mixed nor confusing." Jakob Guhl examines the far-right ideology behind the Magdeburg attack in his op-ed for Prospect Magazine. His research reveals the suspect's years of involvement in anti-Muslim, far-right online communities, a connection authorities struggled to make. https://lnkd.in/dZfn3xDu

Cody Zoschak spoke to The Guardian about rising violence among non-ideologically motivated teens and their ties to forums that glorify mass killers. "The violence is emotional & self-serving rather than political or ideological, & there’s really no desired consequence – the violence is the point." https://ow.ly/QgQl50VgUyi

The latest IS/AQ UN monitoring report highlights "the increasing risk of online radicalization and recruitment targeting young people,” which terrorist groups are actively exploiting, particularly via alternative platforms and encrypted messaging apps. However, the issue goes far beyond Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X/Twitter. In this investigation, ISD outlines the digital persistence of the Islamic State. Despite significant territorial losses and increasing online regulation, the IS ecosystem continues to endure, adapting in what is often described as a game of ‘whack a mole’. ISD’s analysis tracks unofficial IS media outlets and supporters, detailing their presence across social media and messaging apps—where some accounts have thousands of followers—as well as dedicated websites functioning as aggregators of IS propaganda. Some key findings include: ➡️ Over 421K website visitors to IS-linked sites in six months ➡️ 300+ Facebook accounts and 50+ Instagram accounts tied to IS support networks ➡️ A single Facebook page with over 22K followers released 80 video reels, generating more than 1.6 million views in 14 months ➡️ IS supporters are creating instructional videos on how to create bots to spread propaganda on messaging platforms ➡️ Links shared on social platforms often link to IS-affiliated groups and channels on messaging apps This study underscores a critical challenge: despite millions invested in content moderation and counterterrorism, IS supporters continue to innovate, exploit new platforms and connect across borders as IS-inspired youth attacks continue to rise. For more on how IS has sustained its digital presence nearly a decade after the so-called "caliphate", read the report below. https://lnkd.in/dSJwRNNb