Scriptiebank overzicht

This dissertation explores how video games, gaming culture, and gamification
strategies are employed by (violent) extremist and terrorist individuals and organisations to disseminate propaganda. The literature review commences by providing the current state of knowledge on the topic, including the correlation between video games and violence, and why extremist and terrorist content in the gaming community demands our undivided
attention.

Thereafter, the study delves into the historical context of online extremism, tracing
its evolution from the digital pioneers of the 1980s to the modern challenges faced today. It further investigates the strategies employed by (violent) extremist and terrorist organisations in video games, including the modification of existing games to disseminate violent extremist messages, and the use of in-game communication for recruitment and radicalisation.

This dissertation also examines online gaming and gaming adjacent platforms like
Steam, Twitch, Discord, etc. and their potential role in this context. Furthermore, it will
investigate the extent to which they are utilised and whether their usage is restricted to
specific ideologies.

Finally, it examines gaming culture references, both visual and linguistic, in the
communication strategies employed by (violent) extremist and terrorist people and
organisations.

This dissertation will conclude that (violent) extremist and terrorist individuals and
organisations fully exploit video games and modifications to spread their ideology, gaming (adjacent) platforms for community building and communication and gamification strategies to recruit and radicalise individuals. It is not confined to far-right and Jihadist ideology but encompasses a broad range of ideologies. Gamification techniques are commonly used to disseminate their respective ideologies, build communities, and recruit and radicalise individuals.

De term alternative right of alt-right doet bij sommigen misschien een belletje rinkelen. Deze extreemrechtse groepering uit de VS beweegt zich voornamelijk online voort op sociale media en websites zoals reddit en 4chan. Via deze fora verspreiden ze haatberichten, vaak in de vorm van een meme, en het zal niet lang duren voor je er een tegenkomt met een link naar de klassieke oudheid.

There has been countless research on why well-integrated European youth become interested in radical Islam. This research will explore what radicalism and extremism mean within the context of far-right radicalisation. Extreme right figures and their ideologies have gained prominence in Western society. The journey towards upholding these ideologies isn't easy to document. We speak of a 'far-right pipeline'. An individual isn’t instantly converted but rather nudged into a direction until they freefall. These new populist movements are different from the traditional radical right: They like to provoke and their spread happens entirely online. The author puts our current social media and political climate, and its effect on the young generation, in perspective. This research aims to build an understanding of how teenagers can be exposed to thinly veiled online radicalisation.

De scriptie tracht Ronald Reagan en Donald Trump te vergelijken als historische figuren en, rekening houdend met de sociologische en historische factoren, een taalkundige vergelijking te maken van enkele speeches van de beide presidenten.