In 2021 online video games produced more than $180 billion in revenue for more than 2.8 billion users. Dr. Jessica White warns that hidden in all of that cash and among all of those users are extremists who encourage and often inspire real-world violence.
White is a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute who works in their Terrorism and Conflict group. Her research expertise encompasses counterterrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism policy and programming. She also focuses on far-right extremism and terrorism, security policy, gender, and terrorism in the media and online. White recently published research on the impact of the pandemic and other global events on extremism, the transferability of counterterrorism frameworks across the threat spectrum, as well on the importance of applying a gender lens to counterterrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism approaches. She is a co-founder of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network and an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counterterrorism.