Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi

Early detection of online radical content is important for intelligence services to combat radicalisation and terrorism. The motivation for this research was the lack of language tools in the detection of radicalisation in the Maldivian language, Dhivehi. This research applied Machine Learning and N...

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Main Authors: Hussain Ibrahim, Ahmed Ibrahim, Michael N. Johnstone
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Information
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/5/342
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author Hussain Ibrahim
Ahmed Ibrahim
Michael N. Johnstone
author_facet Hussain Ibrahim
Ahmed Ibrahim
Michael N. Johnstone
author_sort Hussain Ibrahim
collection DOAJ
description Early detection of online radical content is important for intelligence services to combat radicalisation and terrorism. The motivation for this research was the lack of language tools in the detection of radicalisation in the Maldivian language, Dhivehi. This research applied Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect online radicalisation content in Dhivehi, with the incorporation of domain-specific knowledge. The research used Machine Learning to evaluate the most effective technique for detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi and used interviews with Subject Matter Experts and self-deradicalised individuals to validate the results, add contextual information and improve recognition accuracy. The contributions of this research to the existing body of knowledge include datasets in the form of labelled radical/non-radical text, sentiment corpus of radical words and primary interview data of self-deradicalised individuals and a technique for detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi for the first time using Machine Learning. We found that the Naïve Bayes algorithm worked best for the detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi with an Accuracy of 87.67%, Precision of 85.35%, Recall of 92.52% and an F<sub>2</sub> score of 91%. Inclusion of the radical words identified through the interviews with SMEs as a count feature improved the performance of ML algorithms and Naïve Bayes by 9.57%.
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spelling doaj-art-2c63e6622b504ceb9a1dede163d8fd5b2025-08-20T03:14:39ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892025-04-0116534210.3390/info16050342Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, DhivehiHussain Ibrahim0Ahmed Ibrahim1Michael N. Johnstone2Maldivian National Defence Force, Malé 20126, MaldivesSchool of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup 6027, AustraliaSchool of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup 6027, AustraliaEarly detection of online radical content is important for intelligence services to combat radicalisation and terrorism. The motivation for this research was the lack of language tools in the detection of radicalisation in the Maldivian language, Dhivehi. This research applied Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect online radicalisation content in Dhivehi, with the incorporation of domain-specific knowledge. The research used Machine Learning to evaluate the most effective technique for detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi and used interviews with Subject Matter Experts and self-deradicalised individuals to validate the results, add contextual information and improve recognition accuracy. The contributions of this research to the existing body of knowledge include datasets in the form of labelled radical/non-radical text, sentiment corpus of radical words and primary interview data of self-deradicalised individuals and a technique for detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi for the first time using Machine Learning. We found that the Naïve Bayes algorithm worked best for the detection of radicalisation text in Dhivehi with an Accuracy of 87.67%, Precision of 85.35%, Recall of 92.52% and an F<sub>2</sub> score of 91%. Inclusion of the radical words identified through the interviews with SMEs as a count feature improved the performance of ML algorithms and Naïve Bayes by 9.57%.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/5/342Natural Language ProcessingMachine LearningradicalisationterrorismDhivehi
spellingShingle Hussain Ibrahim
Ahmed Ibrahim
Michael N. Johnstone
Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
Information
Natural Language Processing
Machine Learning
radicalisation
terrorism
Dhivehi
title Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
title_full Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
title_fullStr Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
title_full_unstemmed Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
title_short Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Detect Online Radicalisation in the Maldivian Language, Dhivehi
title_sort using natural language processing and machine learning to detect online radicalisation in the maldivian language dhivehi
topic Natural Language Processing
Machine Learning
radicalisation
terrorism
Dhivehi
url https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/5/342
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