News and Media

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Although Cloudflare has ceased providing services 8chan , which hosted alleged El Paso attacker Patrick Crusius ’ manifesto online, it continues to provide services to a pro-ISIS propaganda repository.

Suspected gunman Patrick Crusius uploaded a 2,300 word manifesto on 8chan’s politically incorrect board, an online message board known for attracting far-right and neo-Nazi users, shortly before launching his shooting rampage in El Paso, Texas last weekend. Subsequently, Internet infrastructure providers Cloudflare and Tucows came under fire for their provision of services to 8chan . Unfortunately—though unsurprisingly—these companies took action to sever ties to 8chan , finally taking it offline, after much “ waffling ” and inane justifications of free speech .

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Facebook a record-breaking $5 billion for giving third parties access to information that Facebook users did not want to share. Among the settlement’s terms, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg is to remove himself as a privacy decision-maker, create an independent committee to oversee decisions, and have an independent body certify the effectiveness of Facebook’s privacy programs.

On July 24, 2019, a suicide bomber walked into a high-level security meeting in the mayor’s office in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and detonated explosives. The attack killed six people and seriously injured another six, including mayor Abdirahaman Omar Osman. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility, but stated that the intended target was James Swan—an American diplomat who is the United Nations’ special representative for Somalia.

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. CEP identified two white supremacist websites, one dedicated to the neo-Nazi manifesto Siege and the other to the Christchurch shooter, that are kept online by Cloudflare , among others.

On July 22, Argentina , Brazil , and Paraguay entered into an alliance with the United States to counter “illicit activity” and terrorism in the Tri-Border Area (TBA), the region that straddles the three South American countries’ borders. The “three plus one” alliance, which targets Hezbollah and Iran specifically, was made at the Buenos Aires Summit with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .

CEP reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms. This week, CEP identified an ISIS video from War and Media Agency on YouTube. Additionally, the terror group released several videos from Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and numerous extreme right Telegram channels promoted violence against Jews and politicians.

This month, CEP identified a new WordPress website for a militant neo-Nazi survivalist network known as The Base, which has advocated for acts of terrorism against critical U.S. infrastructure and promoted violence against Jews and minorities. The Base exists in order to share paramilitary and survivalist information among individuals and members of different white supremacist groups. Its activities and members are inspired by James Mason’s Siege , a manifesto of neo-Nazism and extreme far-right hate.

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’s edition details the emergence of a new ISIS video from its self-proclaimed state in Turkey, the push by ISIS allies to ensure supporters know how to financially support terror activities and the relaunch of ISIS’ Rocket Chat account to spread propaganda and facilitate communications among members.