Lone-Actor Terrorism

.This chapter explores the social-psychological forces that destructive/authoritarian cults use as they apply to lone-actor terrorists influenced online. The authors contrast the methods used by authoritarian religious, political, commercial, and therapy groups to show that virtual sources—most notably the World Wide Web—can replace in-person recruitment and inclusion. These lone-actor terrorists adopted a worldview and became part of a virtual society. This virtual social bond can be as powerful as a real social bond. The authors consider case examples to show the dynamics of exploitative persuasion in the build-up to their violence. The BITE model of authoritarian control and influence continuum are presented as ways to evaluate undue influence.