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Violent Extremism and Terrorism: Agencies Can Take Additional Steps to Counter Domestic Threats

GAO-23-106758 Published: Jun 15, 2023. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 2023.
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Fast Facts

Violent extremism and domestic terrorism continue to pose a threat to safety in the United States. This Snapshot highlights areas we've identified where federal agencies could improve how they prevent and counter such threats.

For example, agencies such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security could:

  • develop comprehensive strategies to prevent violent extremism and counter domestic terrorism
  • strengthen how they share threat information to prevent or address incidents such as the Capitol Attack on Jan. 6, 2021
  • coordinate to collect useful incident data for reporting and program evaluation purposes

image of room with analysts and computer monitors

Highlights

This Snapshot draws from a number of GAO reports to describe federal efforts to prevent violent extremism and counter domestic terrorism. It also highlights some of the challenges GAO has identified, as well as key relevant GAO recommendations meant to address the challenges.

For more information, contact Triana McNeil at (202) 512-8777 or McNeilT@gao.gov.

Full Report

Full Report (3 pages)
Accessible PDF (4 pages)

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Topics

Homeland Security
CounterterrorismCriminal investigationsData collectionDomestic terrorismIntelligence gatheringStrategic planningTerrorismSocial mediaGrant programsInternal controls