Experts fear rising global ‘incel’ culture could provoke terrorism

Almost 1,000 references to dehumanising misogyny or violent action are recorded each day in the "incelosphere" as the toxicity of male supremacist content continues to intensify.

Analysis of the incel movement found that online references to inflicting violence and extremely degrading language on dedicated incel forums are running eight times higher than in 2016, when researchers first began tracking misogynist content on the internet.

Academics from the University of Exeter also noted an increasing overlap between incel followers and the far right, with online algorithms blamed for pushing young boys towards extreme rightwing ideology.

Lewys Brace, who advises the government on extremism, led a long-term study that recorded, on average, 112 references a day to extreme misogynistic terms along with words "punch, stab, shoot, attack" in 2016 on dedicated incel forums.

Numbers have steadily increased since, now rising to a daily total of 849 references, prompting fears over the movement's trajectory following a series of terrorist attacks linked to online misogynists.

The incel - or "involuntarily celibate" - movement is an online subculture in which a misogynistic worldview is promoted by individuals who blame women for their lack of sexual activity.

Incels have been linked to violent extremism and are classified by the government's anti-radicalisation strategy, Prevent, as having a "mixed, unstable or unclear" ideology.