(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, CEP researchers continued to find ISIS propaganda on Facebook, including executions, exhortations to commit acts of violence, and combat footage. Also, Spreaker removed Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) podcasts which promoted anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and fascism from the platform. Additionally, a prominent neo-Nazi Telegram channel dedicated to information and operations security shared a manual on destroying surveillance cameras.
ISIS Content Located on Facebook
CEP researchers continue to find ISIS propaganda on Facebook. The week of February 7 to February 13, CEP located five accounts that had either posted ISIS propaganda videos or clips taken from official ISIS video propaganda. Content included executions, exhortations to commit acts of violence, and combat footage. Users posted videos in June, October, and December 2020, as well as February 2021. Posters modified several videos, inserting graphics or using images to cover up ISIS flags and regional logos.
An additional Facebook account was located whose purpose is to post links to a Telegram account, which posts links to an ISIS propaganda website, currently on the .ro domain, which has previously been on the .tf, and .pl domains and at least six others.
CEP has previously detailed in its report, Spiders of the Caliphate: Mapping the Islamic State's Global Support Network on Facebook how ISIS followers work to exploit Facebook to host meetings, link to terrorist propaganda, and organize online.
ISIS video on Facebook, February 12, 2021. The video, originally released in July 2020, encourages acts of terrorism, including vehicular attacks and arson.
Nordic Resistance Movement Podcasts Removed From Spreaker
Spreaker removed Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) podcasts from the platform on February 9. The podcasting platform previously hosted several of the group’s podcasts, which promoted anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and fascism. NRM moved their podcasts to the PodBean platform and a decentralized peer to peer video website. The group’s leading podcast recently praised an Austrian neo-Nazi rapper arrested in January, claiming that he was a fan.
Neo-Nazi Telegram Channel Releases Manual on Disabling and Destroying Surveillance Cameras
On February 10, a prominent neo-Nazi Telegram channel dedicated to information and operations security shared a manual on destroying security cameras. Stating that “every attack on the system is praise-worthy,” the manual included descriptions of different types of CCTV cameras, various methods to disable or destroy them, and tips on conducting local campaigns against surveillance infrastructure. The manual included addresses for donating Bitcoin and Monero.
After being online for approximately two days, the original post containing the manual had been viewed over 3,600 times, and the manual had been reposted on at least seven Telegram channels and the Internet Archive. The Telegram channel had over 6,500 members on February 12. The channel has previously endorsed violence and posted information on removing microphones and cameras from smartphones and how to archive Telegram channels at risk of being removed by the platform.