Network crowdsourcing and youth extremism prevention: law enforcement agencies and civil society

Abstract

The fight against the manifestation of extremism among young people is an urgent problem that goes beyond law enforcement and requires a comprehensive socio-political solution. At the same time, preventive measures and technologies for the prevention of this negative phenomenon of public life play a significant role in countering extremism. The effective implementation of crowdsourcing network technologies unites national security entities for a coordinated solution of an urgent problem and helps to level the extremist threat. Their effectiveness should be measured based on the number of identified facts of an extremist orientation, and also the quality of leveling the negative consequences caused by extremist activity. To achieve the goal and objectives of the study, a system of scientific methods based on the systemic principle, the institutional approach, and the sociological method was used. All these methods made it possible to identify the importance of network crowdsourcing technologies for the prevention of extremism among the youth in the context of interaction between the state and citizens. When determining the effectiveness of crowdsourcing network technologies, the study evaluated the projects “Cibersquad”, “MediaGuard” and “STOPTERROR”, which participated in the prevention of extremism among young people. Largely due to their promotion, the level of extremist crime in 2019-2020 was reduced (compared to 2018). The article substantiates the effectiveness of crowdsourcing network technologies and concludes that their widespread adoption can “socialize” the system of preventing extremism among the youth, provided that not only government agencies, but also constructively-minded citizens’ associations are its most important actors.