In the media
December 12, 2025
On Friday, December 12, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an opinion piece by ICCT Programme Lead and Senior Research Fellow Bibi van Ginkel and ICCT Programme Lead and Senior Research Fellow Tanya Mehra.
In their op-ed, Mehra and van Ginkel highlight the subtle yet pervasive ways in which extremist ideas can hide within online ‘memes’ and jokes. They argue that while explicit hate speech is often moderated or removed, implicit extremist content embedded in humour and internet culture can evade detection and normalise harmful narratives. The authors stress the importance of recognising and addressing these concealed online expressions, noting that their insidious nature poses a challenge to both automated systems and human moderators.
According to Mehra and van Ginkel, failing to identify these covert forms of extremism allows them to circulate unchecked, potentially contributing to the spread of extremist ideology under the guise of harmless entertainment.
Read the full article (in Dutch) here:
