International Women's Day
- Expert on online radicalisation
- Bestselling author of The Rage and Going Dark
- Advisor to governments and tech firms including NATO, Google, and Meta
Dr Julia Ebner is an expert on online radicalisation, conspiracy myths, threats to democracy, minority rights, and terrorism prevention. Julia has led various research and advisory projects and participated in undercover investigations, infiltrating extremist groups' online chatrooms and in-person meetings to expose their radicalisation methods.
Julia regularly advises governments, intelligence agencies, tech firms, and transnational organisations, including NATO, Europol, the World Bank, Google, and Meta. Julia has also served as a Special Advisor on Terrorism Prevention for the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism.
Julia is the author of several award-winning and internationally bestselling books, including Going Mainstream (2023), Going Dark (2019), and The Rage (2017). She contributes to news outlets such as the Guardian, Sunday Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, and Süddeutsche Zeitung, and has appeared in major broadcast programmes and documentaries in the UK, US, Germany, and beyond.
Julia leads the Violent Extremism Lab at the University of Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion and is a postdoctoral researcher at the Calleva Centre for Evolution and Human Science (Magdalen College). She teaches courses for Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London.
Dr Julia's showreel and videos
Topics, sessions and talks
Restoring Trust In An Age Of Misinformation
Trust in science, the media and democracy have been dwindling in recent years. But in this new era of misinformation and distrust, the private sector has been a rare source of hope: according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, private sector firms and employers enjoy the highest trust levels in society. Julia Ebner addresses questions such as: What drives the enemies of science and democracy? Why are we more susceptible to conspiracy myths and disinformation in a world of growing uncertainty? And what can companies and institutions do to reverse this trend and restore trust?
Going Dark: Understanding Extremists
By day, Julia Ebner worked at a counter-extremism think tank, monitoring radical groups from the outside. However, in her spare hours – late nights, holidays, weekends – she adopted five different identities and joined a dozen extremist groups from across the ideological spectrum. Based on her undercover investigations, Julia gives insights into how extremists across the world have skilfully expanded their reach by using cutting-edge technologies, attracted the youngest generations by gamifying their communication, and impacted politics by entering surprising coalitions.
Going Mainstream: Managing Societal Polarization
Incels. Anti-vaxxers. Conspiracy theorists. Neo-Nazis. Once, these groups all belonged on the fringes of the political spectrum. Today, accelerated by a pandemic, global conflict and rapid technological change, their ideas are becoming more widespread. Based on Julia Ebner’s undercover investigations for her latest book Going Mainstream, she explores why outlandish ideas have taken hold and conspiracy myths are spreading faster than ever and, how, united by a shared sense of grievance and scepticism about institutions, radicalised individuals are influencing the mainstream as never before.
Making Sense Of The Insentient
The risk of systematic disinformation campaigns that can lead to delegitimisation, hate and agitation has been further aggravated by the next generation of technologies. From Large Language Models (LLMs) and deep fakes to Decentralized Autonomous Organisations in the Metaverse, what risk do new technologies pose to organisations from a reputational perspective as well as a security perspective, and what can they do to prevent campaigns directed at their brand, employees or activities? Julia Ebner delves into this complex topic.
Why we recommend booking Dr Julia
Book Dr Julia Ebner to gain unparalleled insights into online radicalization, conspiracy myths, and terrorism prevention. Her extensive research, undercover investigations, and advisory roles with top global organisations make her an invaluable speaker for understanding and combating modern threats to democracy and minority rights.
Julia is an excellent speaker in high demand and one of the top experts on extremism, hate speech and conspiracy myths. She has held talks for Meta in German, English and French.
Julia's briefing to UN CTED gave us unrivalled and unique insights into the activities and internal machinations of the far-right. She is an engaging and knowledgeable speaker, and was able to distill complex ideas for an audience with variable knowledge of the subjects under discussion.
It is exceedingly rare that the major technology companies, including Google and YouTube, listen to outsiders, let alone have their policies influenced by outside experts. Julia is that rare exception; she is such an exceptional researcher and communicator that she has been invited, repeatedly, to advise the senior most decision makers at these influential companies.
