Dr Joe Whittaker

Research Highlights

1. Pearson, E., Whittaker, J., Baaken, T., Zeiger, S., Atamuradova, F., & Conway, M. (2023). Online Extremism and Terrorism Researchers’ Security, Safety, and Resilience: Findings from the Field

   SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62839

   https://www.voxpol.eu/download/report/Online-Extremism-and-Terrorism-Researchers-Security-Safety-Resilience.pdf
2. Macdonald, S., Pearson, E., SCRIVENS, R., & Whittaker, J. (2023). Using online data in terrorism research. In Lara Frumkin, John Morrison, Andrew Silke (Ed.), A Research Agenda for Terrorism Studies (pp. 145-158). Edward Elgar Publishing

   https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789909104.00016, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62753
3. Whittaker, J. (2022). Recommendation Algorithms and Extremist Content: A Review of Empirical Evidence

   SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61885
4. Ingram, H., Reed, A., & Whittaker, J. (2017). Countering Terrorist Narratives

   SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48756

   https://icct.nl/app/uploads/2017/11/Countering-Terrorist-Narratives-Reed-Whittaker-Haroro-European-Parliament.pdf
5. Whittaker, J. (2022). The Role of Financial Technologies in US-Based ISIS Terror Plots. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 1-26.

   https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2022.2133345, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61418

All Research

• Challenging Hate and Lies: Responses to Extremist Content and Harmful False or Misleading Information Online (Working Title) (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Alastair Reed

• ASC219 Leadership and Management in Social Justice

  Leaders and Managers in Social Justice take on challenging decisions that affect the life chances of individuals as well as the safety of the wider public. These professionals play a critical role in the prevention of crime and the promotion of key principals such as victim support, community safety, equality, diversity and social inclusion. This module provides an understanding of the role of leaders and managers in the arena of social justice. It develops a critical insight into a complex multi-disciplinary landscape and provides students with the opportunity to develop transferable skills for professional practice. The principal focus is on professional development, however skills for effective leadership and management are explored in the context of organisational cultures and processes.

• ASC324 Dissertation

  This module will equip students with the skills needed to produce a dissertation of between 8,000 and 10,000 words. A series of 3 compulsory meetings with an allocated dissertation supervisors assists the students to complete this task. The completion of a dissertation is an independent learning activity. This means that there isn¿t a taught aspect to it. However, each student will be allocated a supervisor. Supervision meetings will take the form of four compulsory individual face-to-face meetings between the student and supervisor. Supervisors will also review drafts of elements of the dissertation to a maximum of 4,000 words, which are to be submitted to supervisors at specific points in the academic year. Supervisors will only provide feedback on drafts that are submitted on time. Staff will provide feedback to students within seven working days.

• ASCM65 Countering Violent Extremism Online

  This module tackles the key societal challenge of countering violent extremism online. The first part of the module introduces students to extremist propaganda, how it is designed, how it works and the role it plays in violent extremist overall strategy. Before exploring the specific threats and challenges that violent extremist propaganda presents in the on-line space, from speed of dissemination to echo-chambers and filter bubbles. The second part addresses the different approaches to countering violent extremism online from disruption, re-direction to counter-narratives. With a particular focus on understanding counter-narrative campaigns, and providing students with a practical introduction to communication strategy and campaign strategy, to be able to design and implement their own counter-narrative campaigns.

• CR-302 Crime and the Limits of Free Speech

  The right to free speech remains one of our most important liberties, often acting as basis for other rights (such as freedom of religion or freedom of assembly). However, this right has always been limited and, as a result, fissures are created between free speech and competing public goods. These include: attempting to draw the line between hateful and political speech; the ways in which individuals display their religion; and how groups protest against governments. In recent years, these free speech issues have been compounded by the growth of the Internet, exacerbating these problems further. For example, how does one country¿s laws respond to a speech crime committed by an individual in another country on a social media platform in another jurisdiction? Or how does the proliferation of advanced video technology (such as deepfakes) affect our trust that the information we see is true? This module draws from philosophical theory which underpins free speech debates, as well as utilising numerous contemporary case studies to apply this knowledge. Although the primary focus is on the challenges that Britain faces, the module draws on comparisons with other countries (such as the US and mainland Europe) that have fundamentally different ways of regulating speech.

• LAMM27 Countering Violent Extremism Online

  This module tackles the key societal challenge of countering violent extremism online. The first part of the module introduces students to extremist propaganda, how it is designed, how it works and the role it plays in violent extremist overall strategy. Before exploring the specific threats and challenges that violent extremist propaganda presents in the on-line space, from speed of dissemination to echo-chambers and filter bubbles. The second part addresses the different approaches to countering violent extremism online from disruption, re-direction to counter-narratives. With a particular focus on understanding counter-narrative campaigns, and providing students with a practical introduction to communication strategy and campaign strategy, to be able to design and implement their own counter-narrative campaigns.

• Research Fellow, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism

  2017 - Present