How (Much) Is Politically Motivated Crime Voiced Online?

Hohner, Julian ; Greipl, Simon ; Schulze, Heidi und Rieger, Diana (2025): How (Much) Is Politically Motivated Crime Voiced Online? 75th Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Denver, Colorado, USA, 12.-16. Juni 2025.

Abstract

The rise of digital environments has raised concerns about how they contribute to and facilitate politically motivated crime (PMC), reshaping the processes of radicalization, extremism, and terrorism. This study distinguishes between PMC-online, crimes mediated through the internet, and strictly offline PMC, analyzing the prevalence and characteristics of over 550,000 geo-located politically motivated crimes from 2010 to 2023, as recorded by the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany. Using hierarchical regression and qualitative validation, we test whether the prevalence of PMC-online has increased over time and within rural areas. Additionally, we examine ideological differences in PMC-online and compare the severity and topics of these crimes with their offline counterparts. Our findings reveal that, while offline PMC remains more frequent and severe, PMC-online is growing rapidly, especially in rural contexts, even accounting for digitalization effects. PMC-online primarily targets outgroups with attacks and insults, potentially promoting polarization and hatred in digital spaces. Although digital environments still serve functions like spreading propaganda and recruitment, the volume of digital extremist acts, such as threats or defamation, far surpasses these commonly researched uses. This study provides the first systematic empirical review of the digitalization of PMC, emphasizing the internet's role in shaping modern extremism and terrorism.

• Dokumententyp: Konferenzbeitrag (Vortrag)
• Keywords: Online Extremism; Terrorism; Digitalization; Politically Motivated Crime; Urbanization; Konferenz ICA 2025
• Fakultät: Sozialwissenschaften > Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung (IfKW)
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 380 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr
• Sprache: Englisch