INTELWIRE

IMPUNITY COMES HOME TO ROOST

If you look up elite impunity on Google Scholar, you will find a lot of research on countries that the United States imagines itself to be better than. Elite impunity is a generally a sign that things are going wrong in society. Unfortunately, there's plenty of it on display right here in America. 

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THE LAST TWITTER CENSUS

The newest VOX-Pol Publication, The Last Twitter Census by JM Berger, is now available on the VOX-Pol Publications page.

This open-access report compares two large random samples of Twitter accounts that tweet in English: one taken just before Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, and one taken three months later, in January 2023. It also examines several related datasets collected during the period following the acquisition, a period in which, the study found, new accounts were created at a record-breaking pace.


LAWFUL EXTREMISM

Academics usually define extremism as a set of beliefs that fall outside the norms of the society in which they are situated, but entire societies have at times been organized around recognizably extreme beliefs. This paper will examine the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (1856), aka the Dred Scott decision, which ruled that Black people, whether enslaved or free, were entitled to no rights under the Constitution.

The paper analyzes the Dred Scott decision to consider whether and how it implements and institutionalizes many widely recognized tropes of extremist ideology. The paper will conclude with a discussion of empirical frameworks that can enable and empower the study of lawful extremism.


A WHITE SUPREMACY READER

A chronological collection of more than a decade of research on American white supremacy and white nationalism by INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger. 

Read it at World Gone Wrong

NEW DATABASES

INTELWIRE presents exclusive collections of Freedom of Information documents, with entity extraction and full text search through Google Pinpoint. Databases at launch include the September 11 attacks and the 1979 Siege of Mecca, with more to come.  

Check out the new INTELWIRE Databases page

An image of a declassified SECRET State Department cable

An image from the document database

LIABLE SOURCES

If you're wondering why your AI is racist, here's a clue. A deep dive into the contents of linguistic training data shows extensive extremist sourcing.

Read it at World Gone Wrong

RESEARCH NOTES

featured research from around the Web on extremism, technology and online harms, including new data on who purchased guns during the pandemic, fact-checking, and the fictional nature of social media engagement metrics.

Read it at World Gone Wrong 

EXTREMISM

"Elegantly written, the book provides a lucid discussion of a contested concept." -- Perspectives on Terrorism

"J.M. Berger wrote a book that everyone has needed for more than a decade. He combines a wealth of experience from research of extremist groups of all types and sizes to develop a useful taxonomy for all - from the beginner to the expert." -- Clint Watts, author of Messing with the Enemy