News and Media

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 Telegram channels and chan-style imageboards celebrated the alleged shooter in two deadly attacks in Hanau, Germany that left nine dead. Additionally, CEP located ISIS content on Telegra.ph, and also located an ISIS Amaq video on multiple websites including Telegram and RocketChat. Also, an accelerationist white supremacist Telegram channel urged viewers to kill elected officials. Finally, two videos featuring an accelerationist song advocating for the murder of Jews, people of color, Latinos and immigrants that included background Atomwaffen Division (AWD) footage were also located on YouTube.

Following the shooting in Hanau, Germany, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) warns against underestimating the threat posed by right-wing extremism.

The European Union has recently been debating various content moderation laws and policies in an aim to curb the spread of online extremist content. Instead of allowing lawmakers to do their jobs, Facebook has spent significant resources lobbying tech industry regulators. As a part of those efforts, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg published an opinion piece this week in the Financial Times and the company issued an accompanying white paper —both of which seek to demonstrate Facebook’s support for increased content moderation regulations for the tech industry.

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 finds that Amazon continues to sell notorious neo-Nazi books, including The Turner Diaries , despite a company policy statement that it would halt the sales of several neo-Nazi and white supremacist books. Additionally, white supremacist accelerationist Telegram channels continue to encourage violence in Virginia in response to legislature’s proposed assault weapon ban. Also, CEP researchers located a website and social media accounts for a new extreme right group, Revolt Through Tradition (RTT). A pro-ISIS account urged ISIS supporters to end their use of the application TamTam and instead utilize alternate options such as Telegram, Riot and RocketChat. Also, the neo-Nazi group, Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), announced on their Telegram channel that the group was disbanding. Finally, CEP researchers found a pro-ISIS blog on the Blogspot platform.

Following Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to lobby and influence the European Union’s efforts to regulate tech companies, this week, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) warns that his call for online regulation is an obvious attempt to seize control of upcoming digital policies such as the terrorist content file and Digital Services Act.

Ahead of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s meeting with European decision-makers scheduled for Monday, 17 February, in Brussels, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) warns against Zuckerberg’s lobbying efforts to water down upcoming digital policies such as the terrorist content file and Digital Service Act.

The terrorist attack in Streatham, London, carried out by Sudesh Amman has brought again to the forefront the radicalizing, violent teachings of Islamist propagandist Abdullah al-Faisal . Reports indicate that Amman possessed copies of Faisal’s sermons prior to the attack, which are readily available to the public through Faisal’s Authentic Tauheed website. The website currently archives more than 700 radical lectures calling for violence against religious minorities and allows his followers to communicate in a private chatroom. Faisal’s teachings have been linked to numerous other acts of terror, as well as plots to attack U.S. financial institutions and the London Stock Exchange in 2010. He is currently awaiting U.S. extradition in a Jamaican prison.

Violence amongst ethnic groups in Mali has sparked concern from human rights campaigners. The country experienced its deadliest year for civilians in 2019 since Mali’s political and military crisis in 2012. Jihadists from al-Qaeda and ISIS have been encouraging inter-ethnic attacks in the hopes of asserting their power throughout both the country and the West African region. In the past two years, these militants have also demonstrated their influence by forming an alliance called the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) and by establishing a new cell called the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. A new Human Rights Watch report has estimated that more than 456 people have died in the past year alone from the violence.

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, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the December 6 shooting at the Pensacola Naval Base. Additionally, a Neo-Nazi web security group affiliated with the Atomwaffen Division (AWD) was located, where they claim to provide hosting services, tech support, and research infrastructure to multiple extremist groups. Neo-Nazi and ISIS content calling for acts of violence were located on Instagram. Following the February 4 stabbing in the Maldives claimed by individuals supporting the Islamic State, legacy Maldivian pro-ISIS content was located on various media platforms. Finally, Neo-Nazi accelerationist channels uploaded homemade firearms instructions to Telegram.

Analysis of all Islamist terrorism attacks, attempted attacks and plots in the EU last year reveals trends in terrorism. The report identifies online radicalization, prison radicalization, and returning foreign fighters as the main drivers behind terror incidents last year. The report Terrorism in the EU in 2019 was published by Jean-Charles Brisard, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and Chairman of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT).