News and Media

On Monday, the U.S. Department of State designated the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) as a global terrorist organization. The RIM has reportedly provided training and resources to white nationalist groups around the world and seeks to promote the idea of a “mono-ethnic state” led by a Russian autocratic monarchy. In 2018, the White House had added the threat of transnational white supremacist groups to the government’s National Strategy for Counterterrorism.

The findings of a new study on cryptocurrencies and terrorism financing conducted by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and Berlin Risk will be presented during a May 13 webinar held in conjunction with the Germany Chapter of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). The online event is replacing the panel discussion originally scheduled for last month in Berlin.

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, users of an 8chan successor site detailed a plot to target and harass the Zoom classes of students at a Jewish day school in Philadelphia, and encouraged other users to participate. Additionally, al-Qaeda issued a statement declaring the novel coronavirus to be a divine punishment that has “exposed the brittleness of a global economy dominated by the United States,” while ISIS released a new propaganda video from Syria showing combat footage and prisoner executions. Also, CEP identified a video created by neo-Nazi James Mason in which he urged his viewers to follow biblical prophecies and praised Hitler, additionally a neo-Nazi accelerationist Telegram channel that advocates for violence posted links to a non-affiliated group that offers instructions on how to build a pistol with 3D printed components. Finally, four Atomwaffen Division (AWD) videos were reuploaded to YouTube from an account linked to an AWD supporter group on Telegram.

Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director David Ibsen released the following statement today upon reports that the U.S. Department of State will designate the extremist white supremacist group Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and members of its leadership. Such a move would put RIM on the same footing as other terror groups—such as ISIS and al-Qaeda—and the State Department indicated further sanctions may be forthcoming for other similar entities or individuals.

As the world continues to grapple with the ongoing pandemic, far-right and Islamic extremist groups are plotting to exploit the health crisis to advance their radical agendas. Last week, FBI agents thwarted a car bomb attack on a hospital in Missouri by 36-year-old neo-Nazi Timothy Wilson, while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified a clipping from an ISIS newsletter urging supporters to conduct attacks against “overburdened health care systems in various Western countries.” The March 19 issue of the ISIS magazine Al-Naba, after originally encouraging members to stay away from areas impacted by COVID-19, urged followers to leverage the pandemic to free prisoners that have been arrested by Western forces and take advantage of vulnerable health care systems.

Iran-backed militias continue to plan attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq more frequently, according to U.S. officials , as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate. The latest series of attacks follow the targeted U.S. strike against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes , the former leader of the Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) militia group. U.S. forces suspect that the near-constant rockets strikes are linked to KH and the IRGC. In an effort to disrupt the financial networks of these militias, the Trump administration designated entities providing support to or acting on behalf of KH , the IRGC , and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH).

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, white supremacist and neo-Nazi accelerationist Telegram channels continued calling for the exploitation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, British neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) launched a Telegram channel challenging a membership ban that the British government implemented last month. Also, chan imageboard and Telegram chat users praise Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant following his guilty plea. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency released a video of one of the Kabul Gurdwara attackers on Telegram and YouTube. Finally, the pro-ISIS Al-Qitaal Media Center released the second version of the online magazine “Voice of Hind” in an attempt to appeal to Muslims in India.

On March 24, 2020, the United States designated Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The move comes a week after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. was preparing to designate the ISIS leader—also known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi—as a terrorist after U.S. intelligence discovered and confirmed his true identity. Al-Mawli, having been one of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s “most trusted deputies,” is credited with keeping the terror group intact following Baghdadi’s death in October 2019 . Officials say the designation will aid the U.S. in cutting off al-Mawli from forms of financing and resources.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced a ban on the sale of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf from its site, telling sellers that they would no longer be allowed to list the autobiographical screed on its website, citing sales as a violation of their code of conduct. However, Amazon quietly reversed the policy and once again made the manifesto available for sale under the guise of free speech. The company claimed that it did not want to determine what people are allowed to read.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Berlin conducted a new study between January 31 st and February 14 th to test big tech’s compliance with Germany’s 2018 NetzDG online content moderation law. The law in its current form requires online platforms to remove “manifestly illegal” content within 24 hours only after it has been reported by users. CEP’s study revealed that YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram removed a mere 43.5 percent of clearly extremist and terrorist content, even after that material was reported for their illegal nature under the NetzDG.