On Monday, we had the pleasure of presenting Revontulet to members of parliament from the Labour Party representing Østfold, in a meeting organised by Halden Næringsutvikling.

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.” 

On Sunday, February 9th, we are excited to contribute to critical conversations about AI ethics and responsible technology with our partner, Humane Intelligence, at the AI & Society House. Revontulet will participate in panel discussions and have an expo booth. We will present on our previous work with Humane Intelligence's Bias Bounty to uncover visual extremist propaganda. We will also discuss our overarching work, thinking, and objectives concerning the evolving threats and opportunities AI offers.

This August, two young girls and two adults were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance event in Southport, UK. Shortly after that, Swift canceled three arena shows in Vienna due to a terrorist bomb threat from Islamic extremists. The freedom, joy, female camaraderie, and independence that Taylor Swift's concerts represent are thorns in the side of extremists.

Humane Intelligence, a nonprofit organization dedicated to evaluating the societal impact of AI, has teamed up with Nordic counterterrorism group Revontulet to launch Bias Bounty 2, the second of 10 algorithmic bias bounty challenges, unfolding over the next year. This latest challenge focuses on counterterrorism in computer vision (CV) applications and will run from Thursday, September 26, 2024, to Thursday, November 7, 2024. The winners will share $10,000 in prizes and may have their work considered for Revontulet’s solutions suite. 

On Monday, July 29th, we were left devastated by the brutal knife attack that cost the lives of three children in Southport and left several others in critical condition. The motive of the attacker remains unknown. What is known is that he targeted young girls who were celebrating life and friendship while dancing to Taylor Swift's music.

Thirteen years ago, 77 people were killed in the 2011 Utøya/Oslo terrorist attack in Norway. These days toward the end of July will always carry the weight of that day, of the trauma, pain, and damage caused, and of the memory of those we lost.

It is in their honor and in honor of all those who struggle to live on after terrorist attacks around the world we continue to fight back - to build the conditions for communities resilient to radicalization and to detect and disrupt terrorist activities.