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The Language of Terrorists: Distinguishing Trolls from Violent Extremists
Not yet published
Expected 18 Aug 26232 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication August 18, 2026
About the author
Julia Ebner
9 books90 followersJulia Ebner, geboren 1991 in Wien, forscht am Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London zu Online-Extremismus. Sie arbeitet mit zahlreichen Regierungsorganisationen und Polizeiorganen zusammen, sie ist Online-Extremismus-Beraterin der UN, NATO und der Weltbank. Sie schreibt regelmäßig für den Guardian und die Süddeutsche Zeitung, war unter anderem bei Markus Lanz, den Tagesthemen und dem heute-journal zur Gast. Ihr Buch Wut. Was Islamisten und Rechtsextreme mit uns machen war ein SPIEGEL-Bestseller.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*This review is of an advance copy provided by NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*
Julia Ebner's *The Language of Terrorists* is an approachable scholarly work on a very thorny, often misunderstood subject. Terrorists in the 21st century are bred online; this we know. There has also been journalistic and scholarly work on the networks through which this happens, and what the results of this indoctrination have been. Ebner is looking at the language extremists use both in their online networks and in the manifestos they intend to be read by a broader audience. Can a linguistic analysis help researchers and law enforcement better understand how indoctrination happens, and when mere talk can become a call to action? How can one find and demarcate the smudgy line between troll and terrorist?
Through a deft blending of methods from the fields of anthropology, psychology, communication studies and sociology, Ebner studies extremists' "desires and fears revealed through [their] language online." The Violence Risk Index she has produced is meant to be used to help law enforcement detect and deter extremists before they are able or willing to act out their violent fantasies.
The language itself in question here has to do with the ways in which individuals create in-groups—what she calls fusion identity—that they feel like they and the group are one and the same, not separate entities. Of course, any in-group needs an Other that is vilified, and here again Ebner analyzes language to understand the various ways of Othering, and how a fine-grained analysis of the rhetoric can be used for threat detection.
The most interesting section of the book for me was when she analyzed a range of manifestos to determine what differentiates that of violent extremists. The word "manifesto" is now often associated with the horrific, garbled, copypasta left behind by terrorists. While the rest of the book focuses on this violent rhetoric, by bringing in manifestos of other kinds—even treatises by MLK Jr. and Greta Thunberg!—Ebner differentiates the "psycholinguistic" factors between them, thereby helping researchers understand the "tells," as it were, of when passionate political speech veers into extremism and violent intent.
This was such an interesting read and I recommend it to anyone who wonders what the hell is going on in 4chan and other extremist spaces but is, understandably, squeamish to go in and find out themselves. I remember many years ago when a journalist who covers extremism had tweeted out that the general public should never feel compelled to read and/or spread the manifestos and footage left behind by violent extremists, both because of the risks of spreading this content, but also because it can be really psychically damaging—often the terrorists' intention—especially for people from marginalized, vilified identity groups. I've always appreciated that advice, which is why I'm not on X anymore (a subject for another day/book review).
But reading this is a great way to both understand the depth and danger of what is being discussed and circulated in these extreme environments. Even so, some of the quotes in the book about Muslims, Jewish people, Black people, and women, among others, were difficult to read. The language trolls use really is shocking and disgusting, and it is crucial that researchers work to understand when it's more than shitposting, when it truly endangers people's lives.
[n.b. Because this now needs to be said, AI was not used to read the book or write this review. Fuck AI.]
Julia Ebner's *The Language of Terrorists* is an approachable scholarly work on a very thorny, often misunderstood subject. Terrorists in the 21st century are bred online; this we know. There has also been journalistic and scholarly work on the networks through which this happens, and what the results of this indoctrination have been. Ebner is looking at the language extremists use both in their online networks and in the manifestos they intend to be read by a broader audience. Can a linguistic analysis help researchers and law enforcement better understand how indoctrination happens, and when mere talk can become a call to action? How can one find and demarcate the smudgy line between troll and terrorist?
Through a deft blending of methods from the fields of anthropology, psychology, communication studies and sociology, Ebner studies extremists' "desires and fears revealed through [their] language online." The Violence Risk Index she has produced is meant to be used to help law enforcement detect and deter extremists before they are able or willing to act out their violent fantasies.
The language itself in question here has to do with the ways in which individuals create in-groups—what she calls fusion identity—that they feel like they and the group are one and the same, not separate entities. Of course, any in-group needs an Other that is vilified, and here again Ebner analyzes language to understand the various ways of Othering, and how a fine-grained analysis of the rhetoric can be used for threat detection.
The most interesting section of the book for me was when she analyzed a range of manifestos to determine what differentiates that of violent extremists. The word "manifesto" is now often associated with the horrific, garbled, copypasta left behind by terrorists. While the rest of the book focuses on this violent rhetoric, by bringing in manifestos of other kinds—even treatises by MLK Jr. and Greta Thunberg!—Ebner differentiates the "psycholinguistic" factors between them, thereby helping researchers understand the "tells," as it were, of when passionate political speech veers into extremism and violent intent.
This was such an interesting read and I recommend it to anyone who wonders what the hell is going on in 4chan and other extremist spaces but is, understandably, squeamish to go in and find out themselves. I remember many years ago when a journalist who covers extremism had tweeted out that the general public should never feel compelled to read and/or spread the manifestos and footage left behind by violent extremists, both because of the risks of spreading this content, but also because it can be really psychically damaging—often the terrorists' intention—especially for people from marginalized, vilified identity groups. I've always appreciated that advice, which is why I'm not on X anymore (a subject for another day/book review).
But reading this is a great way to both understand the depth and danger of what is being discussed and circulated in these extreme environments. Even so, some of the quotes in the book about Muslims, Jewish people, Black people, and women, among others, were difficult to read. The language trolls use really is shocking and disgusting, and it is crucial that researchers work to understand when it's more than shitposting, when it truly endangers people's lives.
[n.b. Because this now needs to be said, AI was not used to read the book or write this review. Fuck AI.]
April 11, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start off by saying I love linguistics. I majored in it; my specialty was sociolinguistics in particular. That being said, language is detrimental to how we view the world and share our thoughts.
I love that this book highlighted language usage in between to similar (but vastly different groups): terrorists and trolls. I think it is important to highlight the difference between the two while acknowledging that there are extremely similar features.
This book is very accessible to the everyday person who might be curious about terrorism and language and how the two intersect.
Overall, I think this book was fascinating and left me curious for learning more about the relationship between languages and terrorism.
Let me start off by saying I love linguistics. I majored in it; my specialty was sociolinguistics in particular. That being said, language is detrimental to how we view the world and share our thoughts.
I love that this book highlighted language usage in between to similar (but vastly different groups): terrorists and trolls. I think it is important to highlight the difference between the two while acknowledging that there are extremely similar features.
This book is very accessible to the everyday person who might be curious about terrorism and language and how the two intersect.
Overall, I think this book was fascinating and left me curious for learning more about the relationship between languages and terrorism.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I have been a long-time reader of Julia Ebner who has enjoyed her dedication to educating us about extremists in all forms. She has written this book in a slightly different form than her previous works, and so if you go in expecting the exact same you may be disappointed. However, if you are specifically a language nerd or a theory nerd you will adore this book. Everyone else, it is worth a read even if sometimes you may need to re-read a passage or two! Pop open this book to learn about how the language extremists are using is changing in an ever-evolving social media world so you can be on the look out in your journeys across the social media landscape!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I enjoyed this work. It seems essential for conflict studies departments, even though I do not teach in those fields. I have studied them and was interested. The book read somewhere between an academic article and a tell-all book. It was interesting to find more information about school shooters and other incel terrorists, with great information about groups that call each other brothers and present certain out-groups.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Language nerds, gather around, this book is for us.
By studying manifestos and online data, the author tries to explain the differences (and similarities) between potential terrorists and annoying trolls. Not everyone being incredibly offensive (and annoying) online will actually turn into a terrorist, when you study their writing, terrorists will have a few things in common : identity fusion that leads to a lot of us versus them kind of talk, calls to violence… That part of the book was really interesting but I found the second part even more important. Once we know how to identify potential terrorists, what do we do? It’s very difficult to find a balance between protecting the public from potential violence and protecting people’s individual rights. How do we force Tech companies to be accountable for what is going on on their platforms while still protecting free speech and privacy rights? The author also reminds us that law enforcement (just like pretty much any institution) is biased and tends to over police certain groups (and under police others), you can really that in the way so many people downplay far right terrorism. We have no problem labelling Isis a terrorist group, but when it’s a a guy like Dylan Roof well we need to think about it you see. Over relying on AI to do the monitoring job is not going to help since AI training is done with police data and what we’ll get in the end is biased risk predictions.
By studying manifestos and online data, the author tries to explain the differences (and similarities) between potential terrorists and annoying trolls. Not everyone being incredibly offensive (and annoying) online will actually turn into a terrorist, when you study their writing, terrorists will have a few things in common : identity fusion that leads to a lot of us versus them kind of talk, calls to violence… That part of the book was really interesting but I found the second part even more important. Once we know how to identify potential terrorists, what do we do? It’s very difficult to find a balance between protecting the public from potential violence and protecting people’s individual rights. How do we force Tech companies to be accountable for what is going on on their platforms while still protecting free speech and privacy rights? The author also reminds us that law enforcement (just like pretty much any institution) is biased and tends to over police certain groups (and under police others), you can really that in the way so many people downplay far right terrorism. We have no problem labelling Isis a terrorist group, but when it’s a a guy like Dylan Roof well we need to think about it you see. Over relying on AI to do the monitoring job is not going to help since AI training is done with police data and what we’ll get in the end is biased risk predictions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews