News and Media

Protesters—including members and supporters of Iranian proxy Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH)—ended their efforts to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, after a spokesman for the U.S.-designated terrorist group ordered the demonstrators to disperse. The withdrawal was reportedly conditioned on Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, agreeing to move ahead with legislation to force American troops from Iraq . Abdul-Mahdi resigned in November but is currently serving as a caretaker leader.

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. This week, ISIS released a new video on multiple websites declaring its strength in Iraq. Additionally, video of the March 2019 Christchurch terror attack was located on the Internet Archive. Lastly, white supremacists are using Telegram to advertise the launch of an “.onion” page and to urge violence in response to potential Virginia gun control laws.

Far-right extremists are proliferating on Telegram. Last week, the Financial Times reported that the encrypted messaging platform has “useful features” that make it an ideal breeding ground for extremists to operate. Among those features include end-to-end encryption and its “loosely enforced” “prohibition of violence.” The report comes on the heels of Telegram’s well-publicized efforts to eliminate ISIS activity on its platform. In doing so, the company stated in unequivocal terms that they “support free speech and peaceful protest, but terrorism and propaganda of violence have no place on Telegram.”

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. This week, white supremacists on Telegram celebrated the Jersey City shooting, in which six people were killed, including the two perpetrators. A self-proclaimed Atomwaffen Division ( AWD ) chapter allegedly in Ukraine released a video and pamphlet via Telegram in which they advised viewers on how to create their own AWD cell. Additionally, neo-Nazi group The Base released a picture on Telegram threatening an anti-fascist podcaster and four other journalists. Lastly, al Qaeda supporters created active channels on the platform RocketChat for communication and propaganda purposes.

This week, U.N. experts released a report detailing the deteriorating security situation in Libya. The report states that Libya is not only targeted as “one of the main axes” of ISIS’s future operations, but that the country will continue to be embroiled in violent attacks due to an increase in the presence of Chadian and Sudanese fighters. The foreign fighters primarily support General Khalifa Haftar’s troops in offensive operations against the Government of National Accord, the internationally recognized government of Libya.

In Mogadishu, Somali security forces ended a seven-hour attack at the SYL hotel on December 10 that left three civilians and two soldiers dead and 11 people injured, including two members of Somali security forces. The terror group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that its fighters conducted the raid according to plan.

On the anniversary of the 2018 Christmas market attack in Strasbourg, France, the leading expert on prison radicalization and CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson is warning that further action is needed to prevent future terrorist attacks. Five people were killed and another 11 were wounded when the jihadist Chérif Chekatt launched a gun and knife attack at the Christmas market. Chekatt had a lengthy criminal history, had become radicalized and had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. This week, ISIS supporters established a presence on the messenger platforms Hoop Messenger and TamTam , after a worldwide law enforcement operation shut down many of their channels on Telegram. ISIS also uploaded a new propaganda video, titled “ And Expel Them From Wherever They Have Expelled You ,” from their self-proclaimed Libyan province, a Russian language white supremacist Telegram channel released bomb-making instructional videos and manuals, and a Neo-Nazi group, The Base , released a new training camp video in which they threatened five journalists who criticized or recently wrote about the group.

Report Marks Second Time Awlaki’s Propaganda Re-uploaded to Platform (New York, N.Y.) - On December 5, The Times (London) reported its discovery of over 100 radicalizing extremist videos from notorious al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki on Google-owned YouTube. The videos were identified by...

Last Sunday, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an interview with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki focused in part on how the Google-owned platform polices hate speech, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other content expressly prohibited by the company’s terms of service. In the interview, Wojcicki said , “The government is free to say, ‘Hey, this is how you should enforce hate. This is how you should enforce harassment.’ We would follow those laws. But we don't see those laws.” However, Google’s actions paint a different picture, one of active opposition to legislative and regulatory initiatives around the world.