On International Women's Day, discussions about gender and safety often focus on women as targets, and rightly so. Women and girls continue to face disproportionate violence online and offline worldwide. Violent misogyny isn’t just a social issue. It’s a security threat, and one of the most reliable early warning signs of radicalization toward violent extremism. At Revontulet, women lead much of the work to keep communities safe, underscoring the strategic importance of celebrating diversity to combat radicalization.

The US-Israeli military operation against Iran that began on Saturday, 28 February, represents the most significant escalation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iran's Supreme Leader has been confirmed killed, Tehran has declared 40 days of mourning, and retaliatory strikes are hitting targets across the region, including Gulf states hosting US military assets and critical civilian infrastructure. Iranian strikes have hit airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, targeted US bases across at least six countries, and the IRGC has declared all US and Israeli assets in the region legitimate targets.

We are excited to be spending this week at Oslo Innovation Week, which gathers startups, investors and others from the innovation ecosystem in our hometown of Oslo for a fantastic lineup of events.

One of the most significant pitfalls in addressing any threat is falling into the trappings of defining your enemies based on your own ideological biases. That is perhaps especially true when it comes to highly politicised threat areas, such as extremism, terrorism, and mass casualty violence.

Revontulet’s mission is to build a safer world for all by providing the knowledge and tools you need to protect yourself and your stakeholders from terrorism and violent extremism. Digital Public Square (DPS) seeks to transform community engagement for the digital era. Together, Revontulet and DPS work to halt the spread of dis-, mis-, and malinformation to help people make more informed decisions about the online content they ingest.

Historically, terrorist manifestos are ideologically coherent documents that justify violence, publicize grievances, inspire imitators, and immortalize the perpetrator. Justin P.'s L'action immunitaire exemplifies the recent shift towards fringe fluidity fueled by nihilism. It reveals more about his psychological state than his political vision. Eco-extremist rhetoric — claims about "globalized ecocide" and society as a "tumor" — wasn't connected to any specific political program. When he entered the classroom, he didn't target symbols of environmental destruction. He attacked a classmate with whom he reportedly had a positive relationship.

From June 2023, leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May 2024, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of toxic narratives, their spread, and the tactics used to lend credibility to such narratives in Arabic and Swedish on TikTok and X in Malmö. 

Revontulet conducted the research on behalf of Nordic Safe Cities for the city of Malmö. In late February, Malmö published the report “Toxic Narratives on TikTok and X in Malmö.”