Comparative Analysis of the Concept “Radicalism” From a Legal and Social Perspective in the Russian FedMeration and Non-CIS Countries in the New Digital Reality

The article examines the concept of radicalism from a legal and social point of view, and also compares the strategies of deradicalization in the Russian Federation and non-CIS countries under the circumstances of the digital reality affecting youth's communication. Based on the method of concept analysis, the author uses a comparative approach to analyze and synthesize definitions of the term “radicalism” in the legal acts of the Russian Federation, Canada, France, and Malaysia, dictionaries of these countries, and manuals of organizations combating radicalization of youth. She establishes the similarity of the descriptions of the term “radicalism” in the dictionaries and its absence in the legal acts of the countries. The derivative term “radicalization” (the process of involvement in radicalism) is present in the legal acts of the countries as an accompanying one when describing terrorist acts or violent extremism, but it neither is described in a separate article nor has its own criminal or administrative penalty. The author reveals the difference in the definitions of the term “radicalization” on the publicly accessible websites of organizations dealing with deradicalization of youth in the above-mentioned countries. In the Russian Federation, the term “radicalization” has the least negative description. In Canada, the emphasis is on the distinction between radicalization as such and radicalization leading to violence. In France, the description of the term “radicalization” initially indicates the use of violence and a direct connection with extremism, while in Malaysia only the possibility of subsequent extremism and terrorism by radicalized citizens is mentioned. The difference in public opinion revealed by this study may lie in the varying experience of resonant clashes with the consequences of youth radicalization. Despite the difference in assessing the degree of the negative impact of radicalism, in all four countries a paradigm shift can be detected in their citizens' public consciousness. Radicalism, previously viewed on the same level as anarchism, is now located closer to extremism and terrorism on the moral scale. The new digital reality is a contributing factor to such a change. The Internet is evolving faster than the legal framework for its use, and this fact does not go unnoticed by propagandists of violent extremism and terrorism. Governments, civil society organizations, and law enforcement agencies in the four surveyed countries use different approaches to develop a deradicalization strategy on the Internet, and could improve their results by sharing their ideas and experiences.

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