The Language of Terrorists: Distinguishing Trolls From Violent Extremists

Distinguishing between online bluster and genuine threats remains a major challenge for security and intelligence professionals. While extremist beliefs and threats of violence are widespread online, only a small minority of individuals progress to engaging in offline violence. Drawing on her new book The Language of Terrorists: Distinguishing Trolls from Violent Extremists, Dr Julia Ebner explores the psychological and linguistic patterns associated with elevated risks of violence. The lecture introduces a theory-driven framework based on identity fusion, perceived existential threat, out-group demonisation and violence-condoning norms, and demonstrates how these factors can be detected through language. Using examples from terrorist manifestos and social media chat logs, the talk examines how psycholinguistic indicators can help distinguish between empty words and credible threats. The lecture also discusses the opportunities and limitations of using natural language processing and computational methods to assess violence risk.

About the speaker:

Dr Julia Ebner is a postdoctoral researcher the Calleva Research Centre (Magdalen College) and leads the Violent Extremism Lab at the University of Oxford. She is also Co-Executive Director at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, where she oversees research, policy and action programmes on extremism prevention. Based on her research, she has advised governments, intelligence agencies and international organisations such as the UN, Europol and NATO. Julia is the award-winning author of The Rage, Going Dark and Going Mainstream, and has led projects addressing youth radicalisation, online subcultures and tech-fuelled extremist mobilisation. She delivers university lectures and public talks in the UK and abroad. Julia holds a DPhil in Anthropology from the University of Oxford and has over a decade of experience working at the intersection of research, policy and practice.