Between Online Radicalisation and Crisis Communication: Main Lines of Research of the Scientific Production Between Terrorism and Social Networks

Abstract

Although it is not unanimous the idea that the internet and social networks play an important role in structuring terrorism and understanding it nowadays, this idea is common to a relevant scientific corpus. This article seeks to understand the scientific production that takes place between the terms "terrorism" and "social media" by conducting a systematic review, following PRISMA guidelines (Page et al., 2021) and applying it to the search engines of Scopus and Web of Science. After screening processes, a corpus of 65 articles with a total of 2635 citations is obtained. In this manner, it is sought to map the 8 main lines of research identified and followed in this scientific production, perceiving their main dynamics and the relative relevance of each one for this scientific production. The processes of radicalisation and online recruitment, as well as the communicational management of moments of crisis – namely terrorist attacks –  dominate the existing scientific research. Such research is mostly focused on Daesh's activity, thus there is a deficit of studies with broader understandings of terrorism, which may challenge orientalist views. Future research could contribute to this broader debate.