Dynamics and modification of the ideological discourse of online radical Salafi communities

The article considers the problem of the discursive representation of online Salafi communities in Russian social networks, which comes as a seldom-studied but rather relevant issue. Despite the increasing restrictions in the Russian-speaking Internet regarding extremist materials and radical content, radical Salafi communities have adapted their discourse and managed to maintain their presence on social networks. The purpose of the study is to identify the most active radical Salafi communities on VKontakte and to find out modifi cation of Salafi discourse during the period between the 2023 and 2024 compared with the results of the previous research. The empirical base of the study is represented with the data (posts and network metrics reflecting the popularity of the content) from almost two dozen online communities. The study classifies Salafi communities into three types according to the degree of content radicalism. It discovers the main characteristic narratives and diff erences in the Salafi communities’ discourse.