ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue)

ISD’s Rashad Ali joined The Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast to break down the process of radicalisation and possible steps that can be taken to prevent violent extremist attacks. https://ow.ly/U5C550UQm6F

ISD’s Jared Holt spoke to both AP and News Channel 5 about the recent school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. He breaks down the shooter’s manifesto and connection to accelerationism. Read about it on our website. https://ow.ly/4EVX50UPnnI

ISD’s Jacob Davey joins The New Statesman Politics podcast to discuss how to counter extremism in the UK following the guilty plea of Axel Rudakabana. Listen to it on their website. https://lnkd.in/dMYkm9tX

In partnership with The Coalition to Counter Online Antisemitism (CCOA), ISD has just released a report that dissects the prevalence of online antisemitism and provides policy steps for governments, platforms, regulators and civil society organisations to combat it. Forty-two organisations working on digital policy and countering antisemitism were interviewed by five local experts in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden to provide insight into how online antisemitism is impacting Jewish communities and individuals. These interviews found that Jewish people navigating online spaces do not feel safe to express their opinions in fear of receiving threats, something that has only increased since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict. This has resulted in a chilling effect on Jewish individuals, which threatens human rights both in digital and offline spaces. We also found that platforms are failing to effectively detect and counter antisemitic content. There are also concerns that the Digital Services Act is not capable of addressing the issue due to a lack of substantive change since its implementation. Policies aiming to address online antisemitism should seek to address the diversity in manifestations of antisemitism including mainstream conspiracies and violent extremist narratives. Preventative measures should build societal resilience to antisemitism, protect individuals against antisemitic narratives, disrupt the emergence of antisemitism, and provide direct intervention to mitigate the impacts of antisemitism. To read more about our findings and suggested policy implementations, read the full report on our website. https://lnkd.in/dNAW2YzY

ISD found 13,000 hateful social media posts targeting minority groups in Canada between 1 January and 31 August 2024. Many of these posts were in response to key events in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Our findings below. https://lnkd.in/dq2MniC2

ISD found 13,000 hateful social media posts targeting minority groups in Canada between 1 January and 31 August 2024. Many of these posts were in response to key events in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Our findings below. https://ow.ly/fsVm50UN4u9

UNESCO 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 (𝗜𝗦𝗗), 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀  ISD has long dedicated efforts to measuring, understanding and addressing online antisemitism and its global effects. In 2020, its research uncovered thousands of Holocaust denial posts on platforms like Reddit, Twitter and YouTube, some promoted by algorithms, prompting Facebook to revise its terms of service regarding Holocaust denial. ISD employs advanced technologies to monitor antisemitism trends and provides educational tools for civil society. After the October 7 Hamas attack, ISD redirected its resources to analyse the surge in online antisemitism across both mainstream and fringe platforms. It is more important than ever to connect analysis and action, raising the crucial question: How can we turn evidence-based research into effective educational interventions and tools? In response to rising Holocaust denial, ISD is honoured to have partnered with UNESCO to develop a guide to help teachers address the Holocaust and counter harmful narratives. The guide provides strategies to combat denial, promote historical accuracy, and discuss antisemitism and conspiratorial thinking. It also tackles contemporary antisemitism and digital disinformation, empowering educators to foster critical thinking and historical understanding. The guide enhances teachers’ ability to navigate these issues and facilitate classroom discussions. Educators are also encouraged to familiarise themselves with the role of antisemitism in the spread of denial and strategies for addressing conspiratorial thinking. The full guide is available below. https://lnkd.in/duYpBV2G

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, ISD CEO Sasha Havlicek participated in a panel on “Truth vs Myth in Elections” with POLITICO, discussing the impact of information manipulation on public trust. She highlighted that AI isn’t the main disruptor—erosion of trust, amplified by threats to officials, is. She stressed the need for policies like the EU’s Digital Services Act to tackle botnets and fake accounts. The full list of panellists: Sasha Havlicek – Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Strategic Dialogue Almar Latour – Chief Executive Officer; Publisher, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company John Harris – Founding Editor, POLITICO Clara Chappaz, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, France Dorin Recean, PMP, MBA – Prime Minister of Moldova, Office of the Prime Minister of Moldova While at WEF, Sasha also chaired a workshop on “The Rise of Networked Influence” and contributed to the Global Digital Safety Coalition’s work on digital literacy. To watch the session “Truth vs Myth in Elections", click on the link below. #WEF25 https://lnkd.in/daf573B6

Collecting data from nearly 400 Canadian-based domestic extremist accounts, ISD’s latest report discovered spikes in anti-Muslim, antisemitic and anti-migrant hate speech among Canadian extremists following the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict. ISD also looked at accounts specifically linked to the British Columbia and found that hate speech by these accounts were more anti-Muslim in nature than their national counterparts. Over 13,000 posts from 1 January and 31 August 2024 were identified as hateful in nature. 4.5k of these posts were antisemitic in nature, 4.4k were anti-migrant and 2.6k were anti-Muslim. Key events were also noted to play a role in the amount of hate speech spreading online, such as pro-Palestine protests in Toronto and the Southport riots in the UK. You can read the full findings on our website. https://ow.ly/z3QL50UN4u8

The Israel-Hamas conflict has fuelled disinformation, hate speech & extremist narratives on social media. ISD examined how these trends unfolded in the UK, France & Germany in the year following the Oct 7 attacks, noting peaks during key events. What were the main narratives? Our findings below. https://lnkd.in/dXy5fgVP