Social Media Analytics to Identify and Counter Islamist Extremism: Systematic Detection, Evaluation, and Challenging of Extremist Narratives Online

Countering violent extremism remains a pivotal national security priority in the U.S. and globally. The Internet offers key sites through which violent extremists spread and influence others to adopt their views. In particular, Twitter has emerged as a central platform through which violent Islamist extremist groups disseminate radical propaganda to recruit civilians, especially young people vulnerable to radicalization [3]. Most of the propaganda messages contain verses from the Qur’an or Hadith (prophetic narrations), carefully selected and painted in an extremist ideology that demand action against the enemies of Islam (e.g., the West).