What’s the Chatter? Developing an Integrated Theory-Grounded Psycholinguistic Threat Assessment for the Evaluation of Online Extremist Chatter

We examined the online communications of a known domestic terrorist group, the Boogaloo Bois, by analyzing 3,513 Boogaloo-affiliated posts from 2019 to 2020 from 9 social media platforms. Applying a theory-grounded coding framework based on the Integrated Model of Dangerous Speech (IMDS), Moral Disengagement Theory (MDT), and the Duplex Theory of Hate (DToH), we tested links between psycholinguistic markers and threats of violence. We operationalized violent threats by 1) assessing threat specificity (e.g. post included specific details of a plan), and 2) “red flagging” posts subjectively perceived as dangerous by coders. Findings linked violent threats to dehumanizing perceived outgroups (e.g. the police, the federal government, liberals), casting outgroups as a threat, expressing moral outrage, justifying violence, blaming the outgroup, and minimizing negative consequences of ingroup actions. This research provides support for the integration of three theoretical frameworks that can inform the development of screening tools identifying extremist threats online.