NYU report monitored social feeds and found groups call for retaliatory action after politically motivated violent events
Extremists are exploiting political violence on online platforms to recruit new people to their causes and amplify the use of violence for political goals, according to a new report that monitored social platforms after recent attacks.
Researchers at New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights tracked social media feeds for several months this year, including in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“Violent extremist groups systematically exploit trigger events – high-profile incidents of violence – to recruit supporters, justify their ideologies and call for retaliatory action,” the findings say.
The US is experiencing an increase in political violence and extremism, with high-profile incidents targeting Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, Kirk, an ICE facility, a church, a Jewish museum and more. Donald Trump and his allies have falsely claimed the violence is coming solely from the “radical left” and sought to clamp down on left-leaning groups. Republican members of Congress took testimony in a House subcommittee this week about rising political violence.
