News and Media

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) published a new report today that analyzes the profiles of individuals that joined the conflict in the Ukraine from abroad. The study, Career Break or New Career? Extremist Foreign Fighters in Ukraine , focuses on the motivations of western foreign fighters from the extreme right-wing milieu. The study aims to explain who these fighters are, where they come from, and what they are likely to do next, as well as assess to what extent these individuals pose a security threat.

Today, Germany designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization, banning all of its activities in the country. The announcement by the Federal Ministry of the Interior came hours after German authorities raided properties in Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Berlin, detaining several suspects accused of providing financial and propaganda support to the terrorist group. Germany had previously designated only Hezbollah’s so-called military wing as a terrorist group, allowing Hezbollah’s political supporters to freely operate in the country. Germany joins the Netherlands as the only EU member states to recognize the Iran-backed group as a single entity. The UK also designated Hezbollah in March 2019.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) invites you to join us in a May 6 webinar discussion about European regulation of extremist and terrorist content online.

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.