Extracting Radicalisation Behavioural Patterns from Social Network Data

Abstract

Social networks (SNs) have become essential communication tools in recent years, generating a large amount of information about its users that can be analysed with data processing algorithms. Recently, a new type of SN user has emerged: jihadists that use SNs as a tool to recruit new militants and share their propaganda. In this paper, we study a set of indicators to assess the risk of radicalisation of a social network user. These radicalisation indicators help law-enforcement agencies, prosecutors and organizations devoted to fight terrorism to detect vulnerable targets even before the radicalisation process is completed. Moreover, these indicators are the first steps towards a software tool to gather, represent, pre-process and analyse behavioural indicators of radicalisation in terrorism.