Odette Youssef

And this is something that extremism researchers have been observing now for some time, Scott, that people are indoctrinating into extremist ideologies faster than had ever really been the case before.

A big part of that has been technology.

You know, social media companies have

largely pulled back on content moderation.

And this means that we're seeing an increase in dehumanizing content, threats, and extremist propaganda on mainstream platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Here's Bill Braniff.

He's with the Polarization and Extremism Research Lab at American University.

Most immediately, Scott, I'm hearing calls for more federal funding for physical security and training.

They are asking for roughly three times what is currently provided in federal grants.

But I will be frank, you know, the people I've been speaking to are not seeing this problem getting better anytime soon.

You know, we don't have a clear idea of how long the fighting in Iran will go.

And ultimately what Braniff and others say we need is to shift to a prevention model that can address some of the underlying reasons that people may go looking for extreme ideas or communities online.

Sure, yeah.

So I'm going to point out just a few of the real top line examples that have happened in the last year, but this is just tip of the iceberg.

So in August, the Department of Homeland Security posted an image to a couple of its social media accounts showing an image of Uncle Sam under the words, America needs you, join ICE now.

But the caption on that post read, which way American man?

Now, to most people, I don't think that would signal much at all.

Exactly.

Yeah.

But, you know, to people who are familiar with the literature, the aesthetics, the music of the white nationalist movement, yeah.