This paper presents the findings of a qualitative content analysis of the extent to which social amplification impacted the development of counterextremism policy in The Hague, the Netherlands. The...Show moreThis paper presents the findings of a qualitative content analysis of the extent to which social amplification impacted the development of counterextremism policy in The Hague, the Netherlands. The analyzed data set included thirty-two written questions and policy documents from the The Hague Municipal Council and Municipality from the 2012 – 2017 period. Kasperson et al., 1998’s Social Amplification of Risk Framework was used as the theoretical lens for the analysis. The analysis found that amplification channels existed between the municipality, the council and community stakeholders. Furthermore, it was found that the municipality actively pursued strategies to open up new amplification channels and used community actors as amplification stations. The analysis moreover found that stigmatization of communities targeted by the counterextremism policy appears to have increased during time period, pointing to societal effects of social amplification. This paper provides insight into the strategies used by the municipality and how social amplification was actively enabled with the use of community actors.Show less