PUBLICATION: Glossary
Extremism and Telegram
The contemporary information environment has redefined the ecosystem of extremist groups, shifting them significantly towards online engagement.
Unlike offline movements from previous decades, modern extremists are often radicalised via the internet through various forums, alternative tech platforms, and encrypted messaging applications. These digital spaces play a crucial role in overcoming traditional geographical boundaries, enabling effective networking, dissemination of extremist ideas, recruitment of new members, and resource collection for both online and offline activities.
As a consequence of these tightened regulatory policies, Telegram has become a hub for extremism and conspiracy theories, experiencing rapid growth— from 300 million monthly active users in 2019 to 400 million in April 2020. Within this context, this backgrounder aims to provide an overview of key concepts and terms related to extremism on Telegram.
The author of this backgrounder is Katarina Bogićević, an intern at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
DETAILS
DATE: 14.05.2025
TOPICS: Challenges Risks and Threats, Extremism
TYPE: Glossary
DOI Number: https://doi.org/10.55042/QCOP1243
AUTHORS
SHARE
PDF PREVIEW
RELATED
Date: 01.02.2026.
Author: Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
The war in Ukraine has reverberated across the Western Balkans in ways that reflect the region’s own political dynamics more than the influence of any external actor, including Russia. In Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, media coverage and public narratives surrounding the conflict have been shaped primarily by domestic political realities, local media structures, and long-standing identity divides.
Date: 24.12.2025.
Author: Predrag Petrović |
In the past decade, European countries have witnessed a rise in anti-establishment extremism (AEE), which challenges the modern democratic order and offers authoritarian modes of governance as a “solution” to consecutive, overlapping crises.
Date: 08.12.2025.
Author: Isidora Stakić |
Anti-systemic extremism (ASE) in Serbia has expanded amid prolonged political crises, institutional distrust, and disillusionment with the European integration. Like elsewhere in Europe, ASE thrives in periods of societal instability that expose weaknesses in democratic governance. In Serbia, authoritarian tendencies, media control, and pervasive conspiracy narratives have further fueled skepticism toward institutions and “global elites.”
