Aficionados of internet discourse may recall the vogue for deeming things “stochastic terrorism.” A stochastic process has a strong element of randomness, even when the overall result is predictable. Thus the idea of stochastic terrorism, which has been defined as “the use of mass media to provoke random acts of ideologically motivated violence that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.” (For example, how the Islamic State used social media to inspire attacks.)

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