(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 located ten TikTok accounts that posted a variety of pro-ISIS propaganda, including a clip from a notorious bomb-making video, as well as a dozen other TikTok accounts that posted content glorifying the perpetrators of white supremacist mass casualty attacks.
Elsewhere, researchers identified a crypto wallet posted in a pro-ISIS RocketChat channel and on Telegram that was previously highlighted in Voice of Khorasan issue 29, released in October. Monero is a privacy coin that has become popular with pro-ISIS groups due to its extensive privacy features, such as protecting the identity of the sender and recipient.
CEP also located a new Twitter/X account belonging to Thomas Sewell, leader of the Australian National Socialist Network. The account’s initial posts contained anti-Aboriginal and antisemitic content.
Lastly, a Telegram channel affiliated with a neo-Nazi accelerationist website that supports Atomwaffen Division successor groups encouraged their followers in Canada to exercise caution following the December 8 arrest of two individuals in Ottawa.
Pro-ISIS Accounts and Accounts Glorifying White Supremacist Mass Shooters Located on TikTok
In a sample of content on TikTok located on December 6, CEP researchers found ten accounts that posted pro-ISIS propaganda. Pro-ISIS content included two accounts that used images of the 2016 Orlando attacker as profile photos, as well as TikTok users that uploaded clips from ISIS videos, Amaq statements, pages from the group’s al-Naba newsletter, and audio files. One account, with almost 150 followers, posted a clip from a notorious ISIS bomb-making video, which had been online for two days when CEP found it on December 6. The ten accounts had an average of 603 followers, ranging from 41 to 1,311.
CEP researchers also found 12 accounts that posted content glorifying white supremacist and extreme right mass shooters. The accounts posted content praising or otherwise glorifying the 2011 Oslo attacker, the 2015 Charleston church shooter, the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooter, the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, the 2019 Christchurch terrorist, and the May 2022 Buffalo attacker. Content uploaded included modified clips from the Christchurch attack livestream and the Buffalo attack video, posts encouraging violence against pro-Palestine demonstrators, and anti-Muslim and antisemitic posts. The 12 accounts had an average of 277 followers, ranging from 16 to 961. A video posted by an account that praised the Christchurch terrorist, using religious honorifics to describe him, received over 8,000 views. A video consisting of a recreation of the 2019 Christchurch attack in the videogame Minecraft posted on November 18 by an account that used a photo of the Christchurch terrorist as a profile photo received over 21,000 views by December 7. Comments on the video included individuals praising the attack, anti-Muslim statements, and suggestions of where to find the full video.
“CEP continues to find content on TikTok spreading ISIS propaganda or glorifying white supremacist mass shooters, which should invite further scrutiny of the platform. Content praising and encouraging violence, especially using video or photo content that the platform should be able to identify and remove, is a cause for concern regarding TikTok’s ability to mitigate the spread of dangerous extremist propaganda,” said CEP researcher Joshua Fisher-Birch. “TikTok should improve its ability to identify and remove content that flagrantly violates its terms and conditions.”
CEP reported all accounts to TikTok or relevant national authorities on December 6 and 7. 18 of the 22 accounts were still available on TikTok on December 11.
