In episode 184 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Dr Joe Whittaker.
Joe is a Lecturer in Cyber Threats at Swansea University’s Cyber Threats Research Centre, housed in their Law department.
His PhD analysed the online behaviours of Islamic State terrorists in the USA from the years 2012-2018, conducted as a joint degree with Swansea University and Leiden University.
He has also researched how social media platforms’ recommendation systems promote and amplify extreme far-right content, as well as publishing on topics such as counter-narratives and extremist video games.
Joe has also conducted a lot of work into the subject of incels and in this episode we discuss his academic journey, what the risk is from incels to wider society, whether they should be treated like a terrorist group and the other subjects he covers in the counter-terrorism space through a mental health lens.
For Joe’s mental health, we talk about the mental health impact that viewing extreme and harrowing content for research has had on him and his peers and what support he and they have had in managing this as well.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can follow Joe on social media below:
Support Us:
