Dataharvest 2025 - the European Investigative Journalism Conference

Far-right and other extremist networks in Europe organise themselves and coordinate their activities across borders by using different technological and strategic means, and pursuing different social and political goals. In this session, three journalists will explain the diverse methodologies they employed to investigate how powerful hardliner networks operate in Europe.

Brecht Castel will describe how he and his colleagues used OSINT techniques to uncover how Active Clubs – which mix fitness and martial arts with far-right ideology – recruit and radicalise their members online. And Gabriela Keller and Sarah Ulrich will explain how they and her colleagues investigated how the international religious right has built cross-border alliances with civil society and political actors, with the aim of influencing policy and restrict women's reproductive rights.

By attending this session, you will learn different approaches to think of and plan a collaborative investigation into the activities of extremist networks.