Leoni Heyn
PhD Candidate and Researcher, Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, Germany; Department for Research on Terrorism and Radicalization
2025
Leoni Heyn is a PhD Candidate and Researcher at both the Institute for Security Policy (ISPK) and the Department of Political Science at Kiel University. At the ISPK, she works in the Department for Research on Terrorism and Radicalization with a specific focus on the impact of social media and disinformation on radicalization. In her dissertation, she explores the formation and interconnectedness of German anti-government extremist networks (namely Reichsbürger, Querdenken and QAnon) across different social media platforms.
She is also a member of the Working Group of Terrorism and Domestic Security of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, Women in International Security (WIIS) and the European Expert Network on Terrorism Issues (EENeT).
The inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
