Home - Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Radicalisation in Closed Loops: Risks and Intervention Opportunities with AI Chatbots and Companions

This report explores how conversational AI may create new pathways for radicalisation and how safety measures can address emerging risks.

Axis of amplification: Regime media, proxies and Western supporters respond to Iranian protests

This Dispatch summarises responses to the protests by state and non-state supporters of the regime between 28 December 2025 and 17 January 2026.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

Iran floods global social media with AI content during ongoing conflict

ISD’s Bret Schafer joined Fox News to discuss the surge of AI-generated content Iran is deploying amid the ongoing conflict.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

The ecosystem of nonconsensual intimate deepfake tools online

ISD found 31 active SIIA tools easily accessible online, putting women and minors at risk.

Emerging Technologies, Misogyny

How pro-Iran networks gained a billion views on war propaganda

Two pro-Iran X networks gained over a billion views via coordinated misleading content and Premium verification under algorithmic amplification.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

Flagship Programmes

Be Internet Citizens

ISD works to build young people’s digital citizenship skills across the UK, enabling them to critically evaluate information.

Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse

Coalition to Counter Online Antisemitism (CCOA)

ISD’s international network of organisations taking a whole of society approach to counter online antisemitism in Europe.

Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Terrorism and Extremism

Business Council for Democracy

The Business Council for Democracy is a cross-sector platform that brings together companies and employers committed to our democracy.

Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Terrorism and Extremism, Training and Educational Resources

Strong Cities

The Strong Cities Network is an independent, global network of more than 295 cities dedicated to addressing all forms of hate and extremism.

Strong Cities, Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Terrorism and Extremism

Extreme Dialogue

The Extreme Dialogue programme supports educators and young people to confront the realities of hate and extremism.

Terrorism and Extremism

Young Cities

Young Cities fosters collaboration between young people and local governments to address the most pressing issues in their communities.

Resources

ISD In the media

Russian-linked actors target young members of online networks

Explicit deepfake websites removed in historic takedown

Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviews ISD’s Moustafa Ayad on Ceuta border crisis

Twenty years on, UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy overlooks role of cities

Digital Dispatches

The latest ISD data-driven analysis on terrorism, extremism, hate and information operations.

25 years after 9/11, al-Qaeda remains perennially online: The group’s digital ecosystem in 2026

Islamist Extremism, Tech Accountability and Safety, Threat Analysis and Prevention

‘United by chaos:’ Examining the Russian nexus to online networks of nihilistic violence

Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

Generation ‘Slop Jihad:’ The decentralized ‘media jihad’ gets sloppy

Islamist Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism

Investigation | An old dog with no new tricks: Matryoshka targets regional elections in Germany

Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety

ISD Spotlights

The War In Ukraine

Countering pro-Kremlin disinformation targeting Ukrainian refugees in Germany

ISD released the first round of a video campaign in German, Arabic and Russian.

Anti-Migrant, Education, Resources, Training and Educational Resources

Tim Squirrell: Meta’s conclusions on pro-Kremlin online campaigns “difficult” to assess

Data Access and Transparency

‘Smash-and-grab’ Russian-origin accounts flood Meta platforms with Ukraine war disinformation

Inside NAFO: The meme collective countering Kremlin talking points online

Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

Elections all around the world in 2024

Pro-Islamic State outlet using CNN and Al Jazeera branding to boost reach

Executive Director for Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Moustafa Ayad, spoke to WIRED about ISD’s investigation on a pro-Islamic State (IS) network.

Islamist Extremism

Explainers

Overviews of issues, trends, narratives, platforms and actors.

Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) Abuse

Non-consensual intimate imagery abuse describes the creation and dissemination of intimate images of a person without their consent.

Digital Rights and Protections, Emerging Technologies, Misogyny, Tech Accountability and Safety

Proud Boys

The Proud Boys are a US-based political activist group that subscribes to a self-described “Western chauvinist” worldview.

Far-Right Extremism

764

764 is a network of online groups that engage in sextortion and the glorification of violence.

Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Kids Online Safety, Misogyny

Reports

September 7, 2026

Lessons in Extremism Prevention for Countering Hybrid Threats: A Framework for Policy Response

Europe faces growing hybrid threats as hostile states increasingly exploit online networks to recruit young people for disruptive & violent activity.

Threat Analysis and Prevention

September 3, 2026

Chatbots and the Ballot Box: Evaluating Accuracy, Sourcing, and Language Gaps in AI Answers to Election Questions

ISD assesses how reliably six leading AI models provide accurate, complete information on US election procedures and voter access.

Valeria de la Fuente, Max Read and Peter Benzoni

Emerging Technologies, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety