News and Media

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and Bratislava, Slovakia-based think tank GLOBSEC invite you to join us in a webinar discussion, launching the first report on mapping Muslim Brotherhood activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

The Counter Extremism Project (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, a pro-ISIS website containing violent propaganda and notorious execution videos, weekly newsletters and daily Amaq News updates was located on the .in domain, while a pro-ISIS group released its third version of the “Voice of Hind” magazine which is meant to appeal to Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. Additonally, white supremacist Telegram channels encouraged users to interfere with New York City’s 311 operations by flooding the line with false reports and misinformation. CEP researchers also located a relaunched neo-Nazi website that uses Epik as its name server and registrar, and identified an administrator of a white supremacist Telegram channel praising anti-5G conspiracy theories. Finally, numerous white supremacist Telegram channels celebrated the 25 th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing while neo-Nazi and white supremacist Telegram and an 8chan successor website celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday on April 20.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported on efforts by Google-owned YouTube to restrict the platform’s “brand safety partners” from being able to share critical information about advertising on its video platform. According to the report, YouTube has altered its contractual Terms of Service which, if signed, prevents third-party auditors from disclosing to clients “when ads have run in videos with sensitive subject matter, including hate speech, adult content, children's content, profanity, violence and illegal substances.”

White supremacists this week celebrated Timothy McVeigh for his role in orchestrating what remains the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history—the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The attack, which took place on April 19, 1995, left 168 people dead and more than 500 others injured. McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and executed in 2001. During the investigation and his trial, it became clear that he was inspired to attack by The Turner Diaries , a racist, anti-Semitic novel by white nationalist William Luther Pierce about a government overthrow and the extermination of non-white races. White supremacists’ and neo-Nazis’ praise for McVeigh 25 years later underscores the continued threat posed by this ideology.

The global networks of ISIS and al-Qaeda continue to operate, plan, and execute attacks during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The arrest of an ISIS-linked cell in Germany on April 15, 2020 is a reminder of that reality. The suspects were also reportedly involved in raising funds for their planned attacks, demonstrating that terror financing activities remain ongoing despite the economic slowdown. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is organizing an update briefing on the ongoing threat posed by ISIS and al-Qaeda as well as the continuing challenges in combating the financing of terrorism.

The Counter Extremism Project (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, CEP researchers located multiple pro-ISIS and neo-Nazi accounts advocating for violence on the Instagram platform. CEP also found that Telegram increased its removal of ISIS channels, chats and bots during the month of April. Additionally, ISIS claimed responsibility for the first time for a terror attack in the Maldives, while the pro-ISIS Internet group “Cyber Caliphate Shield” released a new video on Telegram and numerous websites. Finally, a neo-Nazi Internet security group announced the formation of an offensive cadre for the purposes of infiltration and sabotage, and Kohti Vapautta, a Finnish neo-Nazi group closely linked to the Nordic Resistance Movement distributed violent propaganda on multiple social media platforms.

China’s continued detention of more than one million Uighur’s in what U.S. officials have called “concentration camps” has put the persecuted population at heightened risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. More than 50 coronavirus cases have been reported in the northeastern region of Xinjiang. Many worry the camp-like conditions make social distancing implausible.

The Counter Extremism Project (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, CEP researchers located a Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) podcast on Spreaker spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and urging listeners to help expel Jews from Scandinavia; there were 151 podcast episodes from the group in total. Additionally, two ISIS Amaq News propaganda videos were located on various platforms which showed combat in Nigeria and a statement from a man claiming to have been an aide to the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence service. CEP also located at least 30 white supremacist or neo-Nazi Telegram channels commemorating the third anniversary of 11-year-old Ebba Akerlund’s murder in the 2017 Stockholm truck attack. Finally, a neo-Nazi propaganda website praising racist terrorists and mass shooters was found.

Success Of U.S.-Taliban Peace Deal Appear Doubtful (New York, N.Y.) – Yesterday, the Afghan government announced the release of 100 Taliban prisoners in accordance with the phased releases required under an agreement signed on February 29 between the U.S. and Taliban officials. However, the...

On Sunday, the American chapter of noted Islamist extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) hosted its annual Khilafah (“Caliphate”) Conference using Facebook Live. HT is banned in at least 13 countries worldwide and is most notoriously known as the breeding ground or “conveyor belt” for many individuals who have gone on to form or join explicitly violent enterprises, including alumni 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , former al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , and al-Muhajiroun founder Omar Bakri Muhammad . The event, titled “Global Turmoil To Global Tranquility,” has been viewed more than 8,300 times, shared by 71 users, and is still accessible online. HT America’s Facebook page has 30,000 followers.