News and Media

Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi reportedly watched bomb-making videos on Google-owned YouTube, according to a June 24 report in The Times . This revelation demonstrates the consequences of tech companies’ failure to sufficiently address the online prevalence of extremist and terrorist content with proven connections to terrorist actors and incidents.

The ongoing diplomatic standoff between Qatar and its neighbors has roots in that country’s long-standing support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist groups, symbolized by the hosting and supporting of Yusuf al-Qaradawi , the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and propagandist who has been permitted access to millions of viewers across the region through the Qatari-owned satellite network Al Jazeera.

CEP issued a statement in response to Google’s announcement of its plans to fight terrorism online. Google's announcement follows months of continuing pressure from EU regulators as well as advertisers, who pulled business from Google-owned YouTube after discovering that ads were appearing alongside terror-inciting and hate-filled videos.

CEP issued a statement in response to Facebook’s published blog pledging to develop new technology to root out extremists on its platform. While commending the objective, CEP noted that Facebook's messages were vague, lacking in terms of specifics, and raised serious questions about transparency and accountability

CEP called on Qatar to cease its financial and political support for the terror group Hamas, whose mismanagement, corruption, and neglect has brought crushing poverty to the people of Gaza in the 10 years since it violently took control of the coastal enclave. Qatar has a history of supporting and harboring terrorists from Hamas and various other groups, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Khuram Shazed Butt—the leader of London Bridge attackers—was reportedly radicalized and driven to violence in part by watching online lectures from extremist clerics. CEP reiterated that social media companies like YouTube still are not doing enough to remove violence inciting content from their platforms, like that of Anwar al-Awlaki, Ahmad Musa Jibril, and Abu Haleema.

Qatar’s Continued Hosting and Supporting Extremists and Terrorists (New York) – Certain senior Hamas leaders were reportedly asked to leave Qatar. If true, Qatar should be commended for finally taking action to expel known extremist actors. Nonetheless, Qatar must do more to demonstrate...

CEP's new resource, Orlando Nightclub Attack, clearly shows that one year after an American ISIS follower Omar Mateen carried out the deadliest gun attack on American soil in killing 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the power of ISIS and other extremist groups to radicalize and encourage horrific violence unfortunately remains unchanged.

CEP Senior Advisor and Dartmouth College Computer Science Professor Dr. Hany Farid was interviewed on June 5 by CNN’s Jake Tapper about the eGLYPH technology and the reluctance of Internet and social media companies to utilize it. In an editorial in the Sacramento Bee on the same day, Congressman Ro Khanna , who represents the Silicon Valley, noted eGLYPH technology as a better way forward in the fight against online extremist content.

CEP launched its HARBORS Campaign: Qatar, today, an effort to convince the country to arrest, expel, and end its financial and material support to 12 sanction-designated or wanted individuals. Prior to Gulf state neighbors announcing the severing of ties with Qatar over that country’s support for extremism, the Qatari government indicated that it was preparing to expel several leaders of the terrorist group Hamas. However similar announcements in the past were made, then ignored.