No Cover Image

Journal article 86 views

The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute

Joe Whittaker Orcid Logo, Anne Craanen

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism

Swansea University Author: Joe Whittaker Orcid Logo

Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.

DOI (Published version): 10.1080/1057610X.2025.2595843

Abstract

Content removal has become the primary method of countering terrorism online. This can be effective but also entails significant costs. We outline two interrelated ways in which removal leads to negative consequences: creating ideologically homogenous clusters – i.e. “echo chambers” – and forcing ma...

Full description

Published in: Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
Published: Routledge
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70973
first_indexed 2025-11-24T13:42:02Z
last_indexed 2025-12-02T07:54:58Z
id cronfa70973
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-12-01T12:03:19.8773550</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>70973</id><entry>2025-11-24</entry><title>The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>112ed59957393e783f913443ec80faab</sid><ORCID>0000-0001-7342-6369</ORCID><firstname>Joe</firstname><surname>Whittaker</surname><name>Joe Whittaker</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-11-24</date><deptcode>SOSS</deptcode><abstract>Content removal has become the primary method of countering terrorism online. This can be effective but also entails significant costs. We outline two interrelated ways in which removal leads to negative consequences: creating ideologically homogenous clusters &#x2013; i.e. &#x201C;echo chambers&#x201D; &#x2013; and forcing malign actors to innovate, potentially increasing the risk of radicalization. We argue that removal must be part of the response, but in some situations, other options may be preferable. We offer a hypothetical case study of BitChute to demonstrate that if platforms are willing to work against terrorists, there are alternatives to removal for content which is not illegal.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Studies in Conflict &amp; Terrorism</journal><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher>Routledge</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords/><publishedDay>0</publishedDay><publishedMonth>0</publishedMonth><publishedYear>0</publishedYear><publishedDate>0001-01-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1080/1057610X.2025.2595843</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Social Sciences School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>SOSS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-12-01T12:03:19.8773550</lastEdited><Created>2025-11-24T13:38:26.9106061</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Joe</firstname><surname>Whittaker</surname><orcid>0000-0001-7342-6369</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Anne</firstname><surname>Craanen</surname><order>2</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-12-01T12:03:19.8773550 v2 70973 2025-11-24 The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute 112ed59957393e783f913443ec80faab 0000-0001-7342-6369 Joe Whittaker Joe Whittaker true false 2025-11-24 SOSS Content removal has become the primary method of countering terrorism online. This can be effective but also entails significant costs. We outline two interrelated ways in which removal leads to negative consequences: creating ideologically homogenous clusters – i.e. “echo chambers” – and forcing malign actors to innovate, potentially increasing the risk of radicalization. We argue that removal must be part of the response, but in some situations, other options may be preferable. We offer a hypothetical case study of BitChute to demonstrate that if platforms are willing to work against terrorists, there are alternatives to removal for content which is not illegal. Journal Article Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Routledge 0 0 0 0001-01-01 10.1080/1057610X.2025.2595843 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) 2025-12-01T12:03:19.8773550 2025-11-24T13:38:26.9106061 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Joe Whittaker 0000-0001-7342-6369 1 Anne Craanen 2
title The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
spellingShingle The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
Joe Whittaker
title_short The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
title_full The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
title_fullStr The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
title_full_unstemmed The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
title_sort The Unintended Consequences of the Removal of Terrorist Content and the Case of Bitchute
author_id_str_mv 112ed59957393e783f913443ec80faab
author_id_fullname_str_mv 112ed59957393e783f913443ec80faab_***_Joe Whittaker
author Joe Whittaker
author2 Joe Whittaker
Anne Craanen
format Journal article
container_title Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.1080/1057610X.2025.2595843
publisher Routledge
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description Content removal has become the primary method of countering terrorism online. This can be effective but also entails significant costs. We outline two interrelated ways in which removal leads to negative consequences: creating ideologically homogenous clusters – i.e. “echo chambers” – and forcing malign actors to innovate, potentially increasing the risk of radicalization. We argue that removal must be part of the response, but in some situations, other options may be preferable. We offer a hypothetical case study of BitChute to demonstrate that if platforms are willing to work against terrorists, there are alternatives to removal for content which is not illegal.
published_date 0001-01-01T05:32:04Z
_version_ 1851098110075338752
score 11.089386

Similar Items