Despite the ongoing need for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to identify and assess the online activities of violent extremists prior to their engagement in violence offline, little is known empirically about their posting behaviours generally or differences in their online behaviours compared to non-violent extremists who share similar ideological beliefs. In the past five plus years, Scrivens and colleagues developed a dataset of posting behaviours of violent and non-violent right-wing extremists (RWEs) found on Stormfront, the oldest, largest, and one of the most influential RWE forums. This work has been presented before key stakeholders around the world and has resulted in various peer-reviewed publications with studies ranging from examining developmental posting behaviours to examining posting behaviours during peak posting days. This research note examines policy and investigatory implications, methodological challenges, and avenues for future research on the online posting behaviours of violent and non-violent RWEs.
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