The Repository of Extremist Aligned Documents (READ), a resource for researchers and practitioners who focus on radicalisation, violent extremism, and terrorism, has recently launched its updated platform. The new platform provides users with comprehensive research functions and access to an expanded library of materials produced, published or shared by terrorists and violent extremists.
Hosted within the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS) at King’s College London through the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), with the support of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), READ provides secure, safe, and easy access to a comprehensive library of materials.
How it Works
READ is composed of materials categorized into four main categories: Far right/Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism (IMVE), Manifestos, Nazi material, and Nihilistic Violent Extremist (NVE) materials. In total, the repository now houses more than 2,200 unique documents, including manifestos, articles, essays, and magazines. The new platform features an improved search function, allowing users to search by specific subject matter which capture ideological streams like Neo-Fascism or White Supremacy as well as broader concepts like Gender or Geopolitics as they are captured within the documents.
The new READ platform also now streamlines the ability for researchers to submit documents to the repository and updates the process for submission approval. This improvement will play a critical role in helping the tool grow and expand to meet the needs of its users. Cited in academia, used in industry by regulators and tech platforms, and employed by law enforcement, READ is meant to provide cross-sector stakeholders with another resource in the broader mission of countering and preventing terrorism and violent extremism both on and offline.
GIFCT Member Access
READ has also partnered with GIFCT to provide members with access to additional supplementary research resources, an exclusive benefit that is part of the larger suite of technical solutions, tools, and resources available to GIFCT member companies designed to empower their trust and safety efforts.
GIFCT members can now access the documents housed in READ via Compass, GIFCT’s member portal, allowing for a centralized location for all member resources, including bespoke knowledge products, intel bulletins, guidebooks, and a Wiki of IRF-activation events and actors. It also houses member policy information and key documents, creating a single, streamlined place for everything members need.
Learn More
READ is available to anyone working on issues related to radicalisation, violent extremism, and terrorism, including researchers, practitioners, tech platforms and beyond. To learn more about READ, and to apply for access, visit here.
READ is a project supported by GNET, which brings together an international consortium of leading academic institutions and experts to provide GIFCT members and partners with research and analysis on emerging threats and trends, including ongoing crises and conflicts while connecting them to a global network of experts and scholars. To learn more about GNET, and opportunities to contribute, visit its website.
Become A GIFCT Member
Are you a tech company interested in strengthening your capacity to counter terrorist and violent extremist activity online?
Apply for membership and meet with GIFCT’s Membership Advisory Program (MAP), which supports prospective member companies as they work towards full membership, as well as current GIFCT members in ensuring continued alignment with our membership criteria.
GIFCT’s membership spans the full spectrum of the tech stack – including social media, e-commerce, travel marketplaces, file sharing, financial services, and more – demonstrating that no matter your digital service or platform, GIFCT welcomes your engagement and invites you to join its community. To learn more, visit www.gifct.org.
