Rethinking social media and extremism

Terrorism has entered the mainstream of twenty-first century life, with seemingly random attacks in civilian spaces a tragic staple of the daily news flow. Even a global pandemic has not slowed the pace, with the United Nations (2021) warning that terrorists are exploiting our growing, COVID-driven dependence on cyberspace. The innovative use of digital technology for the purposes of terror was a central feature of the 2019 Christchurch massacre and the attack put a spotlight on the prominent role of social media in propagating violent extremism. Christchurch was noteworthy for many other reasons, not least that the neo-fascist affiliation of the gunman clashed with the dominant fear of Islamist terrorism. However, it was the central role of social media that stood out. Put starkly: Facebook livestreamed this massacre. While the terrorist was cast as a lone gunman, he was anything but alone. Through cyberspace, he had connected with a global network of neo-fascists dedicated to upholding white supremacy in the West. Social media was implicated in every aspect of the Christchurch terror attack in its inspiration, planning, preparation, execution and ongoing mythic status. It is the relationship between social media and extremism that binds the multiple perspectives within this book together. The book offers reflections from a range of disciplinary perspectives but it is in no way intended to be comprehensive either in scope or subject. Rather we see it as an intervention, a provocation and an attempt to bring a multidisciplinary lens to a wicked problem for which there are no risk-free solutions.