Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SMIDGE (Social Media narratives: addressing extremism in middle age)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29
Conspiracy theories, misinformation and extremism online is a growing concern to governments. Because of the way that social media algorithms work, it is not in the interests of social networking services to take down sites that promote such ideas, as outrage tends to lead to more engagement, which leads to more revenue. However, this growing phenomenon is having a direct impact on perceptions of democratic institutions, trust in science and leads to calls for direct action (Jan 6th incursion in USA) to overthrow or disrupt democratically elected governments. Extreme political narratives have been rising across Europe which influence mainstream political discourses and policies. Those in middle age (45-65) may be both susceptible to extremist narratives and influential as decision-makers.
The SMIDGE project will develop counter narratives aimed at this group, by analysing the various forms of extremist discourses and narratives across Europe through social network analysis, textual and content analysis of extremist discourses, and considering national and demographic specifics through survey, focus groups and interviews. From this in-depth examination, SMIDGE will produce counter-narratives, evidence-based tools, and training for journalists and security professionals, who are key figures to address fake news and disinformation, and policy briefs to promote reflexivity, alongside multi-level policy recommendations.
Impact
The outputs from SMIDGE will enable greater understanding of the characteristics of extremism in the target group, thereby ensuring that future policies are appropriate and effective in addressing extremism. We will provide tools and resources to raise awareness of the specificities and influences of those in middle-age, and foster reflexivity across all stakeholder groups. Journalists will be more aware of the impact of their reporting, and our educational tools will help guide them towards a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of the issues and factors involved in extremism in middle-age. NGOs, which are a key part of the dissemination activities, will be provided with new materials and approaches that will enhance and reinforce their on-going work.
The SMIDGE project will develop counter narratives aimed at this group, by analysing the various forms of extremist discourses and narratives across Europe through social network analysis, textual and content analysis of extremist discourses, and considering national and demographic specifics through survey, focus groups and interviews. From this in-depth examination, SMIDGE will produce counter-narratives, evidence-based tools, and training for journalists and security professionals, who are key figures to address fake news and disinformation, and policy briefs to promote reflexivity, alongside multi-level policy recommendations.
Impact
The outputs from SMIDGE will enable greater understanding of the characteristics of extremism in the target group, thereby ensuring that future policies are appropriate and effective in addressing extremism. We will provide tools and resources to raise awareness of the specificities and influences of those in middle-age, and foster reflexivity across all stakeholder groups. Journalists will be more aware of the impact of their reporting, and our educational tools will help guide them towards a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of the issues and factors involved in extremism in middle-age. NGOs, which are a key part of the dissemination activities, will be provided with new materials and approaches that will enhance and reinforce their on-going work.
The SMIDGE-project has made important progress in several connected areas. In WP1 the consortium developed a project management plan and a data management plan as tools to organize and coordinate the work across all partners in the project. WP2 has provided on-going and day-to-day coordination of the scientific aspects of the project by the project manager and wider team. This has included providing systematic approaches to the production and review of deliverables, overseeing the ethics approvals process and coordinating activities.
WP3 undertook a comprehensive scoping of the existing literature on conspiracy theories, misinformation and extremism on social media across disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, psychology, law, technology and media studies. Likewise, WP3 has developed an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to map the social media landscape on social media by considering the Hybridized Prefatory Extremist, or HYPE, spaces through three central entry points to the SMIDGE project: HYPE influencers, HYPE communities and HYPE memetic content. This approach addresses concerns of several intelligence agencies in Western countries where identification of potential extremist threats is becoming increasingly difficult to spot due to hybridization. Finally, in WP3 progress has been made in the conceptualization and development of a web-based platform focusing on the characteristics of existing online content that fosters extremist narratives. The forthcoming database is poised to become a vital resource for researchers and policymakers, shedding light on the nexus between online environments and the phenomena of violent extremism and radicalization.
In WP4, comprehensive datasets tailored to the research questions and theoretical models have been collected, covering both social structures (social networks) and semantic structures through the analysis of channels and messages/posts on Telegram, Daily Mail, and YouTube. Additional research in WP4 includes case studies investigating how HYPE spaces manifest, spread and mutate on social media by conducting meta data studies. An initial network analysis of Instagram hashtags connected to conspiracy theories reveals patterns of topic clusters and ways in which extremist content is mainstreamed and amalgamated with popular culture.
For the online survey in WP5, we have identified significant gaps in the literature including a lack of studies focusing on how the middle-aged demographic uses online media and factors that may affect endorsement of misinformation, conspiratorial and extremist content (e.g. personality factors, cognitive factors, epistemic factors, values, social factors such as political identity and other demographics). The online survey chose three topics identified in WP4 as frequent targets for misinformation: vaccination safety, immigration and climate change. The survey was piloted to improve its user-friendliness and has been translated into 4 languages. The survey is currently in the process of being rolled out for data collection using crowdsourcing software (MTurk). Further, the methodological planning of online exploratory focus group activity was instigated during the first reporting period. This has focused on identifying the procedure and topics to be covered in the focus groups resulting in the decision to move the focus group activity purely online.
WP6 does not officially start until M12 and is not part of this reporting period. However, some preparatory work has been undertaken to identify companies for video and documentary production. The DMU procurement process for public tender was started.
WP7 starts in M18. In its first year, the SMIDGE-project has launched its website, smidgeproject.eu a linked account and an account on X within WP8. The communication platforms are being populated with project news, blog posts and a podcast, SMIDGECast, and posted on YouTube. The podcast features interviews with project partners and discuss the interdisciplinary aspects of the research.
For WP9, all required deliverables have been completed. D9.1 involved producing informed consent/assent forms and information sheets with regards to human participation and data processing. D9.2 described the technical and organisational measures that will be implemented to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subjects/research participants. Clarification was provided regarding personal data transfer between EU and non-EU countries and confirmation that there will be no further processing of previously collected personal data from previous projects or other institutions. D9.3 provided a detailed explanation on the measures taken to prevent, avoid and mitigate potential bias, discrimination and stigmatisation in input data and algorithm design.
WP3 undertook a comprehensive scoping of the existing literature on conspiracy theories, misinformation and extremism on social media across disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, psychology, law, technology and media studies. Likewise, WP3 has developed an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to map the social media landscape on social media by considering the Hybridized Prefatory Extremist, or HYPE, spaces through three central entry points to the SMIDGE project: HYPE influencers, HYPE communities and HYPE memetic content. This approach addresses concerns of several intelligence agencies in Western countries where identification of potential extremist threats is becoming increasingly difficult to spot due to hybridization. Finally, in WP3 progress has been made in the conceptualization and development of a web-based platform focusing on the characteristics of existing online content that fosters extremist narratives. The forthcoming database is poised to become a vital resource for researchers and policymakers, shedding light on the nexus between online environments and the phenomena of violent extremism and radicalization.
In WP4, comprehensive datasets tailored to the research questions and theoretical models have been collected, covering both social structures (social networks) and semantic structures through the analysis of channels and messages/posts on Telegram, Daily Mail, and YouTube. Additional research in WP4 includes case studies investigating how HYPE spaces manifest, spread and mutate on social media by conducting meta data studies. An initial network analysis of Instagram hashtags connected to conspiracy theories reveals patterns of topic clusters and ways in which extremist content is mainstreamed and amalgamated with popular culture.
For the online survey in WP5, we have identified significant gaps in the literature including a lack of studies focusing on how the middle-aged demographic uses online media and factors that may affect endorsement of misinformation, conspiratorial and extremist content (e.g. personality factors, cognitive factors, epistemic factors, values, social factors such as political identity and other demographics). The online survey chose three topics identified in WP4 as frequent targets for misinformation: vaccination safety, immigration and climate change. The survey was piloted to improve its user-friendliness and has been translated into 4 languages. The survey is currently in the process of being rolled out for data collection using crowdsourcing software (MTurk). Further, the methodological planning of online exploratory focus group activity was instigated during the first reporting period. This has focused on identifying the procedure and topics to be covered in the focus groups resulting in the decision to move the focus group activity purely online.
WP6 does not officially start until M12 and is not part of this reporting period. However, some preparatory work has been undertaken to identify companies for video and documentary production. The DMU procurement process for public tender was started.
WP7 starts in M18. In its first year, the SMIDGE-project has launched its website, smidgeproject.eu a linked account and an account on X within WP8. The communication platforms are being populated with project news, blog posts and a podcast, SMIDGECast, and posted on YouTube. The podcast features interviews with project partners and discuss the interdisciplinary aspects of the research.
For WP9, all required deliverables have been completed. D9.1 involved producing informed consent/assent forms and information sheets with regards to human participation and data processing. D9.2 described the technical and organisational measures that will be implemented to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subjects/research participants. Clarification was provided regarding personal data transfer between EU and non-EU countries and confirmation that there will be no further processing of previously collected personal data from previous projects or other institutions. D9.3 provided a detailed explanation on the measures taken to prevent, avoid and mitigate potential bias, discrimination and stigmatisation in input data and algorithm design.