Dr Julia Ebner

Biography

Dr. Julia Ebner is author and a leading expert in the fields of online radicalisation, conspiracy myths and threats  to democracy and terrorism prevention. She leads the Violent Extremism Lab at the University of Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Social cohesion, and has led a wide range of research and advisory investigations. These have involved infiltrating online chatrooms and in-person meeting spaces of various extremist groups across the ideological spectrum, with the intention of exposing their methods of radicalisation. 

As an author, she has written several award-winning books. The most recent of these is Going Mainstream,  which looks at how extreme political views have been pushed from the fringe through a variety of circumstances, including the coronavirus pandemic, an increase in global conflict, and rapid technological change. This book followed Going Dark, which saw her go undercover in several different extremist groups, exposing their fanaticism and exploring what is being done to counter them. Going Dark was widely lauded, including being cited as a book of the year by The Telegraph, and being described as “engaging and visceral” by The Financial Times. 

Based on her experiences, she frequently advises governments, intelligence agencies, tech firms and transnational organisations - including  NATO, Europol and the World Bank. She has also worked for the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism as a Special Advisor on Terrorism Prevention. She is regularly called to contribute to a range of media outlets, including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post. 

In speeches, Julia covers a range of topics, including how companies and institutions can restore trust, as well as why this is important in order to manage the spread of extremist views and social polarisation. She discusses the risk of new technologies, including AI, in the spread of disinformation - and what businesses can do to prevent targeted campaigns being aimed against them.