Category Archives: Terrorism

19Nov/25

Mapping the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on TikTok: a brief overview – by G. L. Giardini and A. Bolpagni

IS propaganda, Islamic State, propaganda, Salafi-Jihadi groups, Terrorism, TikTok

From January 2025 to October 2025, G. L. Giardini and A. Bolpagni have been monitoring and analysing the presence of the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on TikTok, especially focusing on the dissemination of IS propaganda within the social network platform. Through day-by-day monitoring using Digital Human Intelligence (Digital HUMINT) techniques, more than 270 seed accounts have been identified. The latter, which are pro-IS accounts actively sharing propaganda material, have been functional to the reconstruction of a network characterised by more than 100,000 users. 

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17Nov/25

New research by ITSTIME fellows highlights role of Search Engines in making Terrorist content findable – by Miron Lakomy and Ali Fisher

Terrorism, , ,

The study, published in Security Journal, focuses on the role played by search engines in accessing Salafi-jihadi terrorist content on the surface web and beyond. It argues that due to the very nature of the World Wide Web, search engines may be exploited as primary gateways to harmful content, allowing followers of Salafi-jihadi violent extremist groups to find and law enforcement to detect crucial communication channels maintained by terrorist organisations easily.

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14Nov/25

“Make it Count”: The Terrorgram Timeline – by S. Lucini, A. Pugnana

propaganda, Terrorgram, Terrorism

Terrorgram collective is a loosely connected network that operates on Telegram through a net of different chats and channels that share extremist ideas. The main purpose was to promote accelerationism, neo-fascist and neo-nazi subcultures, the glorification of violence, and acts of terror by sharing propaganda with the aim to radicalise users into committing attacks. Terrorgram developed on Telegram starting in 2019, becoming the Terrorgram collective in 2021.

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29Ago/25

Telegram, TikTok e Discord come strumenti di reclutamento e radicalizzazione dell’estrema destra in Italia – by A. Pugnana

arresti, Terrorgram, Terrorism

Da gennaio 2024 a luglio 2025, in Italia sono stati effettuati 21 arresti nei confronti di affiliati all’ecosistema di estrema destra nazionale e internazionale. Gli individui arrestati presentavano età differenti comprese tra i 18 e i 70 anni, con una prevalenza di arrestati over 31. I dati analizzati sono stati acquisiti attraverso un’analisi di dati open source resi consultabili dalle autorità. Per tale ragione, i dati considerati fanno riferimento a quegli arresti in cui le autorità hanno esplicitamente dichiarato i social media (piattaforme di messaggistica o social network) nei quali gli imputati operavano.

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18Ago/25

“Vincere i cuori e le menti”: la rete jihadista in Italia passa dai social agli arresti – by E. Ristuccia e G. Giardini

arresti, Security, Terrorism

Da gennaio 2024 a giugno 2025, in Italia sono stati effettuati 28 arresti per terrorismo islamico. Gli individui arrestati per tali reati sono di nazionalità, età e contesti socio-culturali differenti, con una prevalenza di soggetti rientranti nella fascia d’età dei Millenials e della Generazione Z, più generalmente intesa come fascia 19-30 anni. Tuttavia, denominatore comune di quasi la totalità degli arresti effettuati è il ruolo sempre più centrale dei social media nei processi di avvicinamento e successiva radicalizzazione. 

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16Lug/25

“Path to Sainthood”: the role of influence played by the ‘Sanctification Propaganda Cycle’ within the Terrorgram collective – by S. Lucini e A. Pugnana

propaganda, Security, Terrorgram, Terrorism

The following article is an extract from the paper “Path to Sainthood”: the role of influence played by the ‘Sanctification Propaganda Cycle’ within the Terrorgram collective, Issue 4, Vol. 21, published by the ITSTIME international journal Sicurezza, Terrorismo, Società.

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15Lug/25

“Creating awareness within the masses”: mapping the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on Instagram – by A. Bolpagni, E. Ristuccia e G. Giardini

Instagram, IS propaganda, Salafi-jihadi movements, Terrorism

The following article is an extract from the paper “Creating awareness within the masses”: mapping the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on Instagram, Issue 2, Vol. 21, published by the ITSTIME international journal Sicurezza, Terrorismo, Società.

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29Giu/25

The danger of nationalist extremism in Europe: The “Defend Salonica” case in Greece – by Maria Alvanou

Terrorism, , ,

During May 2025, a police operation in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece, resulted in the arrest of members of the group “Nationalist Youth of Thessaloniki”, linked to various criminal offences, e.g. robberies, assaults and acts of violence with a racist motive. 

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12Giu/25

Epilogo dell’orchestra: la PMC Wagner si ritira dal Mali – by A. Bolpagni ed E. Ristuccia

Afrika Corps, PMC Wagner, Security, Terrorism

“Missione compiuta” o, meglio, “la PMC Wagner ha completato la sua missione in Mali”. Con queste parole, il 6 giugno, due tra i principali canali di propaganda dell’ecosistema Wagner su Telegram hanno annunciato (in contemporanea) con un video, seguito da un breve messaggio, la fine delle operazioni della PMC Wagner in Mali.

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