With funding from the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society as well as the Department of National Defence through their Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security program, NPSIA PhD candidate Casey Babb, and NPSIA Professor Alex Wilner will undertake two distinct, yet complementary research projects related to COVID-19. In collaboration with the London-based Royal United Services Institute, these projects will see Babb and Wilner examine how malicious non-state actors with a nexus to Canada are adapting their propaganda and messaging in order to exploit the pandemic for strategic gain, and how some of these activities may influence and/or impact future military operations.
While the world is focused on the health, economic, political, and social ramifications of the pandemic, terrorist organizations, fringe groups, and extremist communities have become emboldened worldwide, finding opportunity to exploit the situation, incite hate, (re)mobilize and promote their ideologies online in new and novel ways. From Jewish organizations worldwide being “Zoom Bombed” with anti-Semitic messages, to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda suggesting online that martyrs are immune to the virus, to white supremacist groups using platforms such as Telegram and Gab to spread propaganda, COVID-19 has added a new dimension to malicious online activities.
Over the next year, Babb and Wilner will study these activities, and assess the linkages between cybersecurity, extremism, public health and pandemics, the fragility and vulnerabilities these dynamics create, their potential impact on future Canadian military operations, and the way security responses should be comprehensively developed to account for these cascading connections.
Professor Alex Wilner
PhD Candidate Casey Babb