Yesterday, @ctecmiis.bsky.social published the latest Lawful Extremism paper, by @bdaviess.bsky.social and me, examining recently passed anti-trans legislation in Florida. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-floridas-anti-trans-laws 1/x

Just in time for today's Supreme Court arguments, our latest paper for CTEC is a deep dive Florida's anti-trans laws in the context of lawful extremism and how politicians seek to hide extremist intent behind the language of impartiality. By Beth Daviess and myself. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-floridas-anti-trans-laws

On Human Nature:

I've been thinking a lot about human nature this week (and as part of my work for years before). Are people essentially good? Some weeks, many weeks, it's hard to think so.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/human-nature-j-m-berger-v8obe/?trackingId=%2BhVHOuYKTueTZg69XI6dXQ%3D%3D

If the specter of Elon Musk and RFK Jr. running this country isn't enough to shake people out of complacency, I'm not sure what would.

I had some thoughts (and primary source documents) to share on the recent reporting about new 9/11 evidence by ProPublica and the NYT https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/research-notes/still-untold-stories-september-11

We talk a lot about who radicalizes and not enough about who doesn't. So I'm really looking forward to digging into this brand-new paper on resilient non-radicalizers by my Swansea colleagues Kamil Yilmaz and Joe Whittaker with Mehmet Sozer and Niyazi Ekici. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17539153.2024.2397148?af=R#abstract

A privacy nightmare on wheels. It's getting harder and harder to avoid having every aspect of your life vacuumed up, pulped, and injected into an algorithm. The world of "Optimal" getting a little closer every day.

https://therecord.media/ford-patent-application-in-vehicle-listening-advertising

Extremist groups rarely die off entirely, especially in the age of leaderless resistance, but in a best-case scenario, their impact can be dramatically curtailed for a long period of time.

It'll be very interesting to see if this breaks the back of the Terrorgram collective, or if the members will quickly regroup and rebrand. A *lot* of violence has been washed through these channels over the last several years. Disruption is good, but something that sticks would be even better.

Indictment comes against the backdrop of France's arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov. I want to stress that they don't to be connected at this point, but both cases reflect a growing (and overdue) focus on Telegram as the online refuge of last resort for extremists and other criminals.

The indictments specifically link Terrorgram to three specific plots, two of which results in deaths -- the 2022 Bratislava, Slovakia, gay bar attack and the livestreamed August 2024 stabbing attack in Eskişehir, Turkey. The charges include soliciting hate crimes and political assassinations.

*Very* significant move from the Justice Department against the leaders of the Terrorgram network of Telegram channels. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leaders-transnational-terrorist-group-charged-soliciting-hate-crimes-soliciting-murder

The Order is one of the most-emulated terrorist groups in history and cross-promotes the even-more-influential Turner Diaries. The FBI was obsessed with rumors of a "Second Order" forming in the '90s. One did and may have been tied to the OKC bombing. Not just history but a template.

The movie might be sobering and a wake-up call for normies, but the trick is crafting it so it won't *also* be a hagiography of its subjects. The Silent Brotherhood, the book the movie is based on, had the same problem and is looked on fondly by a lot of WNs today, like these Stormfront posters.

To be more explicit about what bothers me here: The Order and its members, especially Bob Mathews and David Lane, are the biggest and most enduring heroes/martyrs of U.S. White nationalism. I find it hard to imagine dramatizing this story in a way that WNs won't cheer. https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-order-review-jude-law-nicholas-hoult-venice-film-festival-1236125318/

In August 2024, the U.K. saw some of the worst far-right rioting in decades. Milo Comerford and Jacob Davey look at recent trends in far-right extremism to understand this wave of violence and the central role played by social media platforms.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/u.k.-s-southport-riots-show-extremism-is-evolving-policy-should-too

You can find the first two Lawful Extremism papers below, and a new one is cooking as we speak!

https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/ctec-publications-0/lawful-extremism-extremist-ideology-and-dred-scott-decision

https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-chinese-exclusion-act

Beth Daviess and I went on The Loopcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Lawful Extremism and its complexities. Check it out!

https://www.theloopcast.com/e/lawful-extremism/

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VQNw3PbWVLDwy21r0ARtx

Beth Daviess and I went on The Loopcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Lawful Extremism and its complexities. Check it out!

https://www.theloopcast.com/e/lawful-extremism/

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VQNw3PbWVLDwy21r0ARtx

You can find the first two Lawful Extremism papers below, and a new one is cooking as we speak!

https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/ctec-publications-0/lawful-extremism-extremist-ideology-and-dred-scott-decision

https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-chinese-exclusion-act

Optimal, my dystopian novel about the algorithmic age, is free this weekend! https://amzn.to/3Ajph30

Please check it out, and if you like it, share it with your friends (and if they just happen to be in charge of adaptations and acquisitions at Netflix, well, so much the better).