From the Fear Model to the Digital Communication Ecosystem Approach

This paper deals with radicalisation processes from a dual social and communicative perspective. By considering the FEAR model and analyzing TRA-Is, Terrorism Risk Assessment Instruments, and their strengths and vulnerabilities, it was possible to arrive at the presentation of Digital Communication Ecosystems, understood as active contexts of contemporary radicalisation and extremism processes. These new contexts of radicalisation represent some fundamental characteristics of society, such as the intersection of emotions and the collective imagination that they form with the processes of radicalisation and the possibility, from an operational perspective, to intercept these signals and grasp their extremist and possibly violent potential. These reflections will be useful for understanding possible actions to prevent and combat violent extremism.