ISIS

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.

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.

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, an anti-Semitic Instagram account, that is a copy of a Telegram channel, was located. The Instagram account seeks to threaten and intimidate Jews, has posted content advocating for violence, and has denied the existence of the Holocaust. ISIS and Eco-Fascist content including propaganda news reports and photos of executions and captured weapons was located on Telegra.ph. Also, approximately 20 far-right Telegram channels that posted content praising mass shootings, and encouraged the intimidation of individuals based on their religion, race and ethnicity were blocked by Apple on January 20.  Additionally, ISIS Amaq news videos including the execution of a Christian man in the Borno region of Nigeria were available on over nine different websites.

Facebook has made claims that it refers to international sanctions lists when working to remove terrorist content from their sites. However, researchers at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) have discovered that U.N.-designated persons and organizations maintain a robust social media presence.

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 released an English-language version of its magazine One Ummah, featuring its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division issued threats to UK police and government officials, while ISIS and the extreme right commemorated the 9/11 attacks on Telegram. ISIS also released a new video on multiple websites and an old video of a UK man pledging allegiance to ISIS.

ISIS released its latest propaganda video last week, featuring ISIS leader and former Muslim Brotherhood member Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi’s jihadist ideology can be traced back to his days in the Muslim Brotherhood while a student in Iraq, which led him down a path of violent jihadism with al-Qaeda and then ISIS. In its report, The Muslim Brotherhood’s Ties to ISIS and al-Qaeda, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) details the core beliefs, the shared goals and the frequent examples of cooperation among the three groups.

CEP today released updated resources on Sudan’s National Congress Party (NCP), the successor organization to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated National Islamic Front (NIF). Recently deposed Sudanese President and NCP chairman Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir currently stands accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide for his violence against religious and ethnic groups throughout Sudan. 

CEP released a new report, Spiders of the Caliphate: Mapping the Islamic State's Global Network on Facebook, which details how ISIS followers continue to exploit Facebook to host meetings, link to terrorist propaganda, and organize on the popular social media platform. CEP Executive Director David Ibsen Ibsen said: "For all of this to exist on the site despite Facebook's claims...indicates the massive scale in which IS supporters are active on the site."

The deadliest act of terrorism in Belgium’s history took place on the morning of March 22, 2016 in Brussels, when ISIS suicide bombers killed 32 people and wounded more than 300 others in attacks at the Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station. While no large-scale attacks have occurred since, the threat from large numbers of battle-hardened foreign fighters re-entering the country, the problem of prison radicalization, and the availability of radicalizing ISIS propaganda online continues to pose a challenge to security official in Belgium.