After three successful years, the Horizon Europe-funded @SmidgeProject (Social Media Narratives: Addressing Extremism in Middle Age) is coming to a close. We are excited for our concluding international conference "The Invisible Middle: Understanding Online Extremism in Middle-Aged Adults in Europe" to be held on 29 January 2026 in Brussels. Across Europe, online extremism, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and polarising narratives are increasingly shaping public debate and democratic participation. While much attention has focused on youth radicalisation and highly visible extremist actors, the SMIDGE project has addressed a critical gap: the influence of online extremism on middle-aged adults—a demographic that plays a vital role as voters, parents, professionals, and community anchors. Through interdisciplinary research, surveys, interviews, and digital analysis across several European countries, SMIDGE has shed light on how sophisticated online narratives target middle-aged adults, influencing political attitudes, voting behaviour, and the intergenerational transmission of beliefs. Yet, this group remains largely absent from policy discussions and prevention strategies. The upcoming conference will bring together researchers, policymakers, civil society actors, media professionals, security experts, and digital platform representatives to: Examine how extremist narratives reach and are interpreted by middle-aged adults, Share evidence-based findings and best practices and Discuss concrete policy responses at EU and national levels. As a proud member of the SMIDGE consortium, KCSS and our colleague Ramadan Ilazi and all our colleagues that contributed to the project (Tringa, Jeta, Taulant, Vijon, Delmin, Asllan, Donika, Leureta, Matt, Pia, Yerai, Denora, Vesa K., Vesa Sh., etc.) has led the work package on developing counter-narratives, contributing innovative research and practical tools to strengthen resilience towars extremist narratives. We are grateful to all partners, the amazing cooperation we have had throuhgout this process, the result we achivied and for the brilliant leadership of the project to our colleagues @SaraWilford from De Montfort University and Line Nybro Petersen from the University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet) . We look forward to welcoming a diverse group of participants, including representatives from the European Parliament, EU institutions, civil society, media, and technology sectors. Let’s work together to make the invisible middle visible and to build more resilient democracies across our continent. hashtag#SMIDGE hashtag#CounterNarratives hashtag#OnlineExtremism hashtag#DemocraticResilience hashtag#HorizonEurope hashtag#CivilSociety hashtag#DigitalPolicy hashtag#Conference

We are hosting our colleagues from @SmidgeProject in #Prishtina for the General Assembly meeting. The project has already made a significant positive impact. For 2 days, we will be reflecting on project's impact & discussing next steps. More about project smidgeproject.eu

Far-right extremism is evolving, using digital platforms to spread fear and misinformation. The @SmidgeProject uncovers how these narratives take hold—and what we can do to counter them. Read the full blog by Vesa Shatri: #CounterExtremism #DigitalThreats qkss.org/al/blog/charting-th…

📌Productive consultation with Work Package 6 of the @SmidgeProject! Focused on counter-narratives and the fantastic work by @csmontesca in developing learning materials for training and raising awareness. 💡More about our project 👉 smidgeproject.eu/

📣Don’t miss our upcoming webinar on January 28 with @SmidgeProject on how disinformation, misinformation, & online conspiracy theories can drive radicalization & violent extremism. 🔹Register now to participate: 👉 events.teams.microsoft.com/e… #DisinformationRadicalization

🚨 Join us for our webinar on Gaming and Digital Spaces as Radicalization Arenas 🎮🖥️this Wednesday, November 27, 2024. Explore how gaming and digital spaces are being leveraged for extremist narratives and radicalization. 👉 Register now: events.teams.microsoft.com/e… @Danlazi

🚀 Exciting progress in WP6 of the @SmidgeProject on creating alternative counter-content & educational tools that build awareness & encourage reflection on extremist narratives. Today’s progress meeting was filled with engaging discussions and valuable insights from the team!

🚨Excited to launch this video as part of @SmidgeProject, tackling online conspiracy theories, misinformation, and extremism among individuals aged 45-65. We're developing counter-narratives and educational resources to promote critical thinking & reflexivity #Dissinformation 👇