IAA - Predicting Online Radicalization in Arabic

This project is designed to create impact from the knowledge and methodological tools generated by a previous project entitled, ‘Predicting Online Radicalization’ (funded under the PaCCS scheme http://www.paccsresearch.org.uk/about/ , administered by the AHRC but co-funded by the EPSRC, ESRC, and AHRC).

From this previous project, we developed a method and algorithm that can detect radicalization in social media data. To create real-world impact from this knowledge, we need to adapt our tools (lexicon and machine learning algorithm that can classify extremist dialogue) to work with the FCO’s Arabic Telegram data. No new knowledge will be generated by this IAA project per se, rather, the adaptation of our tools to work with Arabic Telegram data will make them deployable by the FCO ‘on the ground’ in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions as part of the FCO’s preventing violent extremism (PVE) work.

Thus, the conceptual and methodological knowledge about how to predict radicalization through social media interactions was gleaned from prior research, and by conducting this additional work using Arabic data we will be able to convert the tools we have already developed into the form the FCO require for implementation on the ground in MENA.