News and Media

Iconic consumer brands have begun pledging to temporarily or indefinitely halt advertisements on Facebook due to its consistent mishandling of extremist content, hateful rhetoric, and divisive information on its site. The boycott by more than 100 leading advertisers reflects ongoing frustration over Facebook’s ineffective content moderation processes, allowing advertisements to run adjacent to questionable content on its platform.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) invites you to join us for a webinar discussion on the upcoming European regulation of extremist content online in the context of the Digital Services Act. This 90-minute webinar will be conducted in English via Zoom on 14 July 2020 at 17:00 CEST / 11 a.m. EDT.

(New York, N.Y) - 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. Last week, 10 or more neo-Nazi and white supremacist accelerationist Telegram channels were either...

On Wednesday, Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Advisor Dr. Hany Farid, a professor at University of California, Berkeley with a joint appointment in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information, testified before a joint subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce on the effect online disinformation has had on the country. In his testimony , Dr. Farid criticized tech firms, including Facebook and Google-owned YouTube, for their unwillingness to moderate harmful content on their respective platforms. Because much of the content consumption on social media platforms is determined by algorithms, tech firms have an incentive to amplify divisive content, which increases user engagement and drives revenue.

Convicted Hezbollah financier and U.S.-designated a “global terrorist” Kassim Tajideen will be released early by the U.S. on compassionate grounds, according to multiple press reports. A court filing made on June 11 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated the 64-year-old Tajideen’s age and risk of contracting COVID-19 in prison factored into the release order. Both U.S. officials and Tajideen’s lawyers have denied that his release was part of a deal made with the Lebanese government in exchange for the return of a U.S.-Lebanese dual-national, Amer al-Fakhoury. Lebanon accused Fakhoury, who was released and returned to the United States earlier this year, of torturing prisoners during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon as a member of the now-defunct Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army.

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. Last week, multiple white supremacist Telegram channels and chan users celebrated the five year anniversary of the shooting massacre committed by white supremacist Dylann Roof that left nine dead in Charleston, South Carolina. In addition, CEP researchers located two new ISIS Amaq news videos. Also, a Telegram channel was located claiming affiliation to an alleged Brazilian Atomwaffen Division (AWD) group and a white supremacist Telegram channel shared instructional information on manufacturing 9mm ammunition. Finally, a white supremacist user of an 8chan successor website suggested individuals should commit false flag property attacks against local politicians in an effort to turn them against anti-police brutality protests.

For years, the influence of fake news and the manipulation of public and political perception has been a threat to political systems. During the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories have risen to new heights, as non-state actors—among them extremists and populists—have tried to take advantage of the situation. State actors have also engaged in the distribution of fake news concerning the virus, putting their own citizens at risk.

Recent demonstrations across the U.S. have been marred by at least 19 cases of individuals allegedly using vehicles as weapons to drive into crowds, according to witnesses and police. In at least eight of these cases, drivers face charges over what prosecutors have claimed to be deliberate acts. In a Virginia court filing, the Commonwealth alleges a driver who hit a demonstrator’s bicycle and threatened the protesting crowd nearby with his truck told police he was a high-ranking official of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Three years ago, Darren Osbourne drove a van into a crowd of worshippers outside The Finsbury Park Mosque, killing one and wounding ten people. Osbourne was not a devout ideologue. He had become radicalized in less than a month through the rapid consumption of far-right online material. He devoured social media posts from former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson, members of Britain First, and other right-wing extremists.

(New York, N.Y.) – Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director David Ibsen and CEP Senior Advisor Dr. Hany Farid released the following statement today in response to proposed changes announced by the U.S. Department of Justice to roll back tech companies’ broad legal protections...