Eye on Extremism
March 16, 2020
Newsroom:
Mosque Attack Video Still Online
“A study from researchers at the Counter Extremism Project, a
non-profit organisation that targets extremists of all stripes, shows
the difficulty of ever fully scrubbing something from the internet.
The study found footage of the Christchurch terror attack is
accessible on at least 14 different websites, ranging from far-right
messageboards to encrypted chat apps like Telegram to Google Drive. In
a statement, a Google spokesperson said the company "has clear
policies that prohibit violence and terrorist content. We take these
issues very seriously and we remove files violating these policies
when flagged by our users." CEP researchers told Newsroom the video,
which had been compressed into a .zip file and uploaded to the file
sharing service, had been accessible since March 15, 2019. The link to
the file was shared on a far-right, Twitter-like service called
Gab.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Iraq Base Housing American Troops Hit By New
Strike, Sustaining Tensions
“Rockets struck an Iraqi base housing American troops on Saturday,
lowering any expectations of de-escalation after U.S. strikes on an
Iran-backed militia in response to the killing of two of its troops at
the same base this week. At least 25 rockets fell on Camp Taji early
Saturday, wounding three U.S. service members, two of them seriously,
U.S. officials said. Two members of the Iraqi air force command were
also gravely wounded in the strike, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
The spokesman said the rockets had landed near the part of the base
used by American and other foreign troops from the international
coalition working with Iraq to combat Islamic State. Such attacks are
usually carried out at night but Saturday’s occurred in broad
daylight. “Today’s attack may send a message that attacks against U.S.
forces will continue until they leave Iraq, and the U.S. can’t stop
them,” said Ali al-Ghanemi, a lawmaker in parliament’s security and
defense committee. U.S. troops face increasing dangers in Iraq, where
they had previously coexisted with Iran-backed groups. This week’s
rocket attacks renew tensions between Washington and Tehran, which had
eased from a peak when the U.S. killed a top Iranian general on Iraqi
soil in January.”
The
Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah Commander Prosecuted In Austria For Terror
Finance
“Prosecutors in the Austrian state of Carinthia have started a
trial against an alleged Hezbollah commander who spent 13 years in the
central European country while reportedly being involved in financing
terrorism. The trial has triggered outrage, according to the Kronen
Zeitung, commonly known as the Krone, a mass circulation paper,
because the Lebanese-born man is not awaiting trial in prison. Kronen
Zeitung wrote: “What seems strange is that the alleged terrorist is
free and not in custody,” adding that “the public prosecutor has not
made an application.” The trial will formally start in early April.
The unnamed Hezbollah military leader has lived in Carinthia for 13
years. The authorities have accused him of working for Hezbollah in
Lebanon. The indictment states that the Hezbollah commander is a
member of a terrorist organization and engaged in the finance of
terrorism activities. He could face a 10-year prison sentence. The
paper said that a similar case involving an accused jihadi terrorist
resulted in a late arrest. The Jerusalem Post has reported that
Hezbollah operatives who blew up an Israeli tour bus in Burgas,
Bulgaria, fled to Lebanon and the authorities in Beirut refused to
extradite the accused terrorists.”
United States
Military.com:
The Military Surveyed Troops On Extremist Activity Decades Ago. Here's
What It Found
“U.S. troops will soon see a new question on routine workplace
surveys: one asking whether respondents have ever “experienced or
witnessed extremist activity in the workplace [or] reported such
activity.” The addition is the result of a mandate from Congress in
the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill. But it's not the first time the
military has attempted such a survey in an effort to crack down on
hate in the ranks. And documents obtained from earlier reports raise
key questions about whether this method of monitoring the problem is
reliable and effective. The presence -- and possible surge -- of hate
group, nationalist and racial supremacist behavior and thinking in the
ranks was recently spotlighted by a rash of social media incidents and
a high-profile Coast Guard criminal case. After Coast Guard Lt.
Christopher Hasson was arrested on drug and gun possession charges in
February 2019, investigators reported an astonishing discovery at the
officer's home: a draft letter to a “known American neo-Nazi leader”
in which Hasson identified himself as a white nationalist; documents
appearing to target a number of high-profile lawmakers; and lengthy
missives to friends in which he said he was “dreaming of a way to kill
almost every last person on the earth.”
Syria
Fox
News: ISIS Advises Terrorists On Coronavirus To Avoid Europe For
Jihad
“After years of urging its terrorists to attack major European
cities, ISIS is now advising them to steer clear due to the
coronavirus, according to reports. ISIS’ al-Naba newsletter contains
“sharia directives” urging its healthy members not to enter “the land
of the epidemic” to avoid becoming infected, the New York Post
reported Sunday. But any sick jihadists already in Europe should stay
there — presumably, to sicken infidels, the paper reported. The Sunday
Times of London first reported on the newsletter, according to the
paper. The “healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the
afflicted should not exit from it,” the ISIS newsletter advises,
according to the Post. The newsletter instructs jihadists that the
“plague” is a “torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills.” The Middle
East terror group also advises jihadists to flee from a person
infected with the coronavirus “as you flee from the lion,” and to
clean hands with soap to avoid infection, the Military Times reported.
Ten people have died from the coronavirus in Iraq, where 110 cases
have been reported, according to John Hopkins University which is
tracking the endemic. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO)
declared Europe is now the virus' epicenter.”
BBC
News: Islamic State: US Military Says RAF Airstrikes May Have Killed
Civilians
“There is “credible” evidence British airstrikes against the
Islamic State group have killed civilians in Iraq and Syria, the US
military has said. The Ministry of Defence has continued to deny
American reports that some RAF airstrikes against IS have harmed
civilians. The RAF has deployed 4,409 bombs and missiles in the
five-year war with IS. The MoD's approach to identifying civilian
casualties has been described as “not fit for purpose”. Airwars, a
group which has been monitoring the bombing campaign and its impact on
civilians, has obtained details of 11 airstrikes carried out by
European nations in which at least 40 civilians were killed. The UK
has admitted the RAF was involved in three of the strikes but still
insists no civilians were killed. One of the incidents involving the
RAF was investigated by the BBC in 2018 after a whistleblower inside
the US-led anti-IS coalition reported civilian deaths. The MoD claims
it has killed 3,964 IS fighters and injured 298. But so far it has
accepted responsibility for just one civilian casualty - and none in
the heavily-bombed cities of Raqqa and Mosul, where thousands of
civilians are believed to have died.”
Iraq
The
Times: Isis Video Boasts Of Deadly Attacks On Troops And
Civilians
“Islamic State has released a propaganda video in which it boasts
of carrying out a series of guerrilla attacks in northern Iraq and
killing dozens of civilians and security forces. The 30-minute video
includes several terrorist attacks in the northern Iraqi province of
Kirkuk, including a mortar strike on an amateur football match and the
beheading of captured Iraqi soldiers. Isis militants claim that they
remain a serious threat in Iraq and are shown terrorising several
towns, despite continuing operations against them by a US-led military
coalition and the Iraqi army. The video comes after a grim week for
the coalition forces in Iraq during which two US Marine commandos were
killed in a gunfight last Sunday and a British soldier and two more
Americans…”
New
York Post: Inside One Man’s Secret Mission To Rescue Jihadi Brides
From ISIS
“It was a good thing John Carney came strapped for combat. His life
hung in the balance. Decked out in a Kevlar vest, an AK-47 slung over
his shoulder, Glock at his hip and Ray-Bans shielding his eyes, the
former British infantryman found himself pinned down in the world’s
most dangerous battlefield during the retaking of the ISIS-held city
of Mosul, Iraq, in 2016. Only he wasn’t there to kill jihadists. His
mission, a private and unsanctioned enterprise, was to rescue Diana
Abbasi, a young Dutch woman who had joined ISIS and was therefore
considered the enemy. But she was being raped by its thugs and
desperately wanted out. Her father had spread the word. There was no
one else to help, so Carney and his small band of ex-Kurdish commandos
trailed coalition forces in a daring operation, risking their lives to
save her. They dodged trip-wire mines, suicide bombers and caliphate
snipers blasting anyone in the streets. Some children got shot in the
back as they fled. Now Carney and his men were trapped in a shattered
farmhouse. “The noise is constant: the clatter of machine guns,”
Carney writes in “Operation Jihadi Bride: My Covert Mission to Rescue
Young Women from ISIS” (Monoray), out now.”
Turkey
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Turkey Orders 4 Baghdadi Relatives Jailed For Joining
ISIS
“A Turkish court ordered the imprisonment of four relatives of
slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for joining the terrorist
group. Four were sentenced to six years and three months in jail after
they were convicted of joining a terrorist group. Seven others were
ordered to be deported back to their countries. The defendants
appeared before a court in the central Turkish region of Kırşehir.
Baghdadi was killed in an American raid in the northwestern Syrian
province of Idlib in October. Two of the suspects denied being related
to him, while two others did. They all denied belonging to ISIS
despite witness testimony and the discovery of ISIS propaganda and
photos of the corpses of gunmen on their mobile phones. Ankara had
revealed late last year the arrest of 25 of Baghdadi’s relatives in
operations in four Turkish cities. Turkey’s most prominent detainees
include Baghdadi’s sister, her husband, son-in-law and one of his
sons. They were arrested in Syria’s Azaz region. Another, Ismail
al-Issawi, who is a close aide to Baghdadi, was turned over to Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had previously stated that
Issawi had revealed Badghadi’s whereabouts in Idlib ahead of the US
raid that killed him.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: Standoff Between Afghan President Ghani And Rival
Abdullah Threatens Taliban Peace Deal
“The most dangerous place in the Afghan capital today isn’t under
threat from Taliban or Islamic State insurgents. A single block near
the presidential palace, bristling with guns, has become ground zero
in a surreal war of nerves between two civilian politicians both
claiming to be the country’s legitimate leader. Just a short walk from
the compound of President Ashraf Ghani, the incumbent whose reelection
was announced last month, gunmen in armored vehicles guard the smaller
palace of his archrival Abdullah Abdullah, who insists he was cheated
out of victory and is forming a parallel government. Across the
street, gunmen guard the office of Abdurrashid Dostom, a former army
general now allied with Abdullah, who has reoccupied the compound he
once used as a vice president under Ghani. No shots have been fired,
giving the confrontation an eerie, stage-managed feel. But as the
standoff drags into its second week, many Afghans fear the slightest
incident could ignite a violent conflagration between rival camps,
plunging the country into chaos and dooming planned negotiations
between the government and the Taliban to end Afghanistan’s 18-year
war. The insurgents have vowed to continue their attacks if no
settlement is reached.”
Al
Jazeera: Afghan Gov't Delays Taliban Prisoner Release, Endangering
Deal
“The Afghan government has postponed its plan to release Taliban
prisoners, a senior official said, a decision that could sabotage a
deal signed last month between the armed group and the United States.
Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said on
Saturday the releases were being delayed because more time was needed
to review the list of Taliban prisoners. “We are ready to start the
process the way it is described in the presidential decree but we
won't release anyone if there is no guarantee that they will not
return to fighting,” he said. “The Taliban have to show flexibility.”
Earlier this week, President Ashraf Ghani announced that 1,500 Taliban
prisoners would be freed as a “gesture of goodwill” in an attempt to
resolve one of the long-running disputes with the armed group that had
stalled intra-Afghan peace talks. Ghani's decree said the government
would release 1,500 captives starting Saturday if the Taliban reduced
violence, with plans to free another 3,500 prisoners after
negotiations begin. The Taliban rejected the offer and demanded the
release of nearly 5,000 captives, citing it as one of the conditions
behind the US-Taliban deal signed last month that excluded
Kabul.”
Pakistan
The
New York Times: Pakistan Builds Border Fence, Limiting Militants And
Families Alike
“Above the trucks and travelers lining up at the main eastern
gateway between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a glinting new landmark
scales the dun-colored mountains: Parallel mesh fences, a couple of
feet apart and topped with coils of razor wire, climb from the border
crossing up over the dizzying crags. The section of fence overlooking
Torkham is just a glimpse of a 1,600-mile barrier begun four years ago
by Pakistan’s military and set to be completed this year. Nearly 9,000
miles from President Trump’s border wall with Mexico, Pakistan has
quietly been building its own version to try to control what has long
been one of the world’s most porous and lawless frontiers. The
Pakistani Army credits the fence with helping to transform security in
the country, sharply cutting terrorist attacks after a sustained army
offensive pushed many militants — and tens of thousands of civilian
refugees — into Afghanistan. Yet the barrier is also a projection of
hard power in its own right, to the detriment of diplomacy with
Afghanistan and the life of Pashtun tribes that had functionally
ignored the border for generations.”
Modern
Diplomacy: Pakistan Committed To Curbing Money Laundering And Terror
Financing
“Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering
and terrorist financing watchdog. It has nine associate members and
Asia Pacific Group is one of them. Pakistan is the member of APG
because of this membership it is bound to comply with the
recommendations. Pakistan was placed in the grey list for the first
time in 2012 and remained there till 2015. Since June 2018, Pakistan
has once again been put in the grey list. In this regard, FATF gave 27
points agenda to Pakistan for countering money laundering and
terrorist financing to avoid being blacklisted. The basic theme of
this 27 points agenda revolves around high level political commitment
from Pakistan to work with the FATF and AGP. While working with them
it has to strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering
Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regime and address its strategic
counter-terrorist financing-deficiencies within various fields. With
regard to commitment and progress over the recommendations given by
FATF, the government of Pakistan, as a result of restless efforts and
struggle, has been successful in fulfilling the fourteen points out of
27 point agenda.”
Yemen
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Houthis Storm 'Nasserist's Headquarters' In New Crime
Against Yemenis
“The Houthi group in Sanaa has committed new crimes on Saturday by
storming the headquarters of the Nasserist Unionist People's
Organization and imposing new taxes on residents. Politicians and
partisans denounced this violation, saying that it is a resumption of
the group’s attitude in oppression and confiscation of funds and
properties. Witnesses from Sanaa said that Houthis have imposed new
taxes on residents under the excuse of supporting the war efforts.
Residents in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Houthi members
threatened to punish those who refuse to donate through depriving them
of gas bottles and any humanitarian aid delivered by international
organizations. Upon these violations, students of the University of
Science and Technology protested against Houthis, saying they have
laid hands over the university in the last weeks. Protesters chanted
demanding the prompt release of the university's president kidnapped
by the group. In a related context, the UN human rights office in
Sanaa issued its report on Saturday on the insurgent militias'
violations against civilians and public-private properties. The report
archived more than 18,000 crimes in Sanaa in one day including murder,
torturing and looting of properties.”
Middle East
The
Washington Post: Israel’s Netanyahu Turns To Anti-Terrorism Tools In
Battle Against Coronavirus
“Israel plans to deploy electronic counterterrorism measures to
track the movements of people who might be infected with the
coronavirus, officials said, a confluence of crime fighting and public
health that could become more common even as it sparked civil liberty
concerns. Officials did not specify the techniques to be used but
hinted they would include monitoring individuals’ cellphone locations,
presumably without their consent, as well as the more sophisticated
electronic intelligence and data analysis that Israel is known to have
in its terror-fighting arsenal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who
announced the initiative in a televised address Saturday night,
acknowledged that applying Israel’s vaunted digital surveillance tools
could infringe on privacy. He said it was an acceptable price for
slowing the spread of the virus. “We are one of the few countries with
this capability, and we will use it,” he said. “We must do everything,
as a government and as citizens, to not become infected and not to
infect others.” Israel, which has reported 200 cases of the virus and
no deaths, has already proved willing to take sweeping measures to
stave off a wider outbreak. Netanyahu announced that restaurants, bars
and museums across the country would shut down indefinitely.”
Nigeria
The
National: Militants Kill Six Soldiers In North Nigeria, Say Security
Sources
“Six Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by terrorist gunmen
in the restive north-east on Sunday, military sources said. The
assailants opened fire on an army convoy near the village of Mayanti,
near the border with Cameroon, in an area plagued by insurgent
attacks. “We have lost six soldiers in an ambush by Boko Haram
terrorists,” one officer said. The military convoy had been on its way
to the nearby town of Banki when it was hit by heavy gunfire and
rocket-propelled grenades, another source said. The decade-long
extremist uprising has killed 36,000 people and displaced about two
million from their homes in north-east Nigeria. The UN has complained
of a surge in violence in the conflict zone in recent weeks. Anger has
been growing among local residents about the army's failure to stop
the attacks. The military has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency
has largely been defeated but attacks against civilians and soldiers
continue on a near-daily basis. The conflict has spread to
neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional coalition
to fight the insurgents.”
Africa
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Weighs Troop Cuts In Africa, Leaving Allies
To Confront Growing Militant Threat
“At the closing ceremony of U.S.-led military exercises in this
expansive Saharan nation, American diplomat R. Clarke Cooper stepped
to the podium and assured African military commanders that Washington
stands ready to help them in their time of need. “The U.S. has an
unwavering and longstanding commitment to Africa,” Mr. Cooper, the
State Department’s assistant secretary for political-military affairs,
said late last month. In fact, U.S. allies are increasingly worried
that America’s commitment may be wavering when wide swaths of Africa
face a surging threat from militants affiliated with al Qaeda and
Islamic State. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is conducting a
world-wide review of troop commitments, in keeping with the Trump
administration’s strategic tilt away from dispersed actions against
terror groups and toward great-power competition with China and
Russia. Africa is the first region on Mr. Esper’s list, and military
officers and lawmakers expect him to order fresh troop reductions on
the continent, on top of the 17% cut in personnel over the past two
years. The Pentagon hasn’t said when he will announce his decision.
The Pentagon has already sliced some 1,200 personnel from its rolls in
Africa since deployments there hit a peak in 2018.”
Financial
Times: Mali Violence Escalates As Peace Accords
Crumble
“The imam and the women, the elders and the youths, each spoke of
violence and terror — all in a place where they had been promised
there would be peace. In a dusty room on the edge of town, Gao’s civil
society leaders vented. A women’s activist mourned the many sons,
brothers and fathers who had died. A youth leader lamented the
explosion of armed and jihadi groups in northern Mali five years after
peace accords with separatist rebels were supposed to have brought
stability. In recent weeks, several local leaders have been
assassinated for co-operating with the UN and France, whose combined
20,000 troops are in the west African country to keep the peace and
fight terrorists respectively. With the Malian government having
little formal presence in Gao, “the form of the insecurity has
changed: it used to be state symbols that were targeted, but now it’s
the community leaders who are the victim”, a young man said, declining
to give his name for fear of reprisal. A decades-long battle for
independence by ethnically Tuareg separatists reached boiling point in
2012, when Tuareg rebels and jihadis captured northern Mali, a region
twice the size of Germany.”
The
Christian Post: 2 Christians Killed, 1 Abducted By Al-Shabaab In
Kenya
“In yet another assault on Christians in north-eastern Kenya,
suspected militants from the Somalia-based al-Qaeda-linked group
al-Shabaab killed two people and abducted another in two separate
attacks this week. The militants ambushed a passenger bus on the road
between Elwak and Mandera near the Jabi-bar area Wednesday and asked
all of the passengers to disembark before identifying non-Muslims,
according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International
Christian Concern. The suspected member of Al-Shabaab then abducted a
Christian. An hour later, two non-local medical transporters were
killed and their truck was burned in the same location near the porous
Kenya-Somalia border. The deceased were ferrying medicines. “The
driver and turn boy who are both non-locals were taken away. It was
later reported that the lorry has been burnt down to ashes,” Mandera’s
Governor said in a statement. “Al-Shabaab is following through with
its threat to target and attack non-local Christians,” Nathan Johnson,
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, said. “They have increased this
type of attack greatly already this year. If this continues, 2020
could be one of the deadliest for Kenyan Christians in recent
history.”
Australia
The
Guardian: Man Charged After Allegedly Planning Rightwing Terrorism
Attack On NSW South Coast
“A New South Wales joint counter-terrorism team investigating
extreme rightwing behaviour in the state has charged a man with a
terrorism offence. The 21-year-old man from Sanctuary Point on the NSW
south coast was on Saturday charged with one count of acts done in
preparation for, or planning, terrorist acts after a joint
counter-terrorism team investigation. The offence carries a maximum
penalty of life in jail. The 21-year-old allegedly attempted and
planned to buy or acquire military equipment including firearms and
items capable of making improvised explosive devices. The Australian
federal police assistant commissioner Scott Lee said in a statement on
Monday that the decision to arrest the man was made to mitigate any
immediate threat to the community. He added that the man was arrested
to prevent further planning that “could have resulted in a terrorist
attack” in Australia. Lee said the man was planning to disrupt an
electrical substation on the south coast and looking to source
material to construct an improvised explosive device. Police said the
investigation began last month when detectives became aware of a
number of online posts allegedly containing an extreme rightwing and
anti-government ideology.”
The
Guardian: Labor Says Australia Must Take Rightwing Extremist Threat
‘Seriously’ And Review Terror List
“Australia’s Labor opposition has used the anniversary of the
Christchurch massacre to call for a review of the criteria used to
judge terrorist organisations, citing the fact no rightwing extremist
groups are listed in Australia. The shadow home affairs minister,
Kristina Keneally, has proposed the Morrison government allow the
parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security to review
the criteria to ensure they are fit for purpose. The massacre of 49
people at two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019 prompted calls for
greater social cohesion in Australia and a renewed focus on extreme
rightwing terrorism, particularly by the Labor party. In October
Australia’s spy agency warned extreme rightwing terrorism had become
“more cohesive and organised” – a warning repeated in February. The
home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, was soon after criticised for
promoting a false equivalence between radical far-right groups and
“leftwing terrorism”. The United States and Britain have listed
extreme rightwing groups as terrorist organisations. Dutton has said
he will do the same if the Australian Security and Intelligence
Organisation recommends it. Listing an organisation on the terrorism
list criminalises membership or association with the group.”
New Zealand
The
Times: Christchurch Shooting: What Terror Looks Like In The Social
Media Age
“A year ago today — March 15, 2019 — my heart is racing and I feel
sick. I can still see the men and women collapsing one by one as they
are hit by the rain of bullets, and I can hear those gunshots fired
with the semi-automatic rifle. I should not have watched the
livestream of the mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. “It’s
the birth rates. It’s the birth rates. It’s the birth rates,” reads
the beginning of the 28-year-old attacker’s so-called manifesto, “The
Great Replacement”. I’ve seen his words a thousand times. From the
identitarians in Europe to the alt-right in America, from the
notorious online message boards of 8chan to the private chat rooms on
Discord…”
Southeast Asia
Yahoo
News: Islamist Militants Sentenced To Death For Bangladesh Priest
Murder
“Four Islamist extremists were sentenced to death in Bangladesh
Sunday for the 2016 decapitation of a senior Hindu priest during a
spate of attacks targeting religious minorities in the Muslim-majority
nation. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the
attack in the northern district of Panchagarh, but authorities blamed
militants from Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). “The court...
sentenced all four to death over the murder. They are JMB members,”
Abdur Rafique, a court official in the capital Dhaka, told AFP. The
priest was a prominent member of Bangladesh's Hindu community, which
makes up nearly 10 percent of the South Asian country's population of
168 million. JMB was blamed for the murders of minorities, secular
writers, publishers and foreigners between 2013 and 2016. Among them
was a savage attack at a Dhaka cafe in 2016 that killed 22 people,
mostly foreigners. Seven Islamist extremists were sentenced to death
in November over the assault that was claimed by the IS. Bangladesh
security forces launched a nationwide crackdown after the cafe siege,
killing more than 100 members of the JMB including its top leaders,
and arresting hundreds of suspected militants.”
Technology
Reuters:
Twitter Tackling Online
Polarisation
“Twitter would partner the University of Otago's National Centre
for Peace and Conflict Studies to look at ways to counter "digitally
amplified polarisation", the social media firm said in the past week.
By looking at Twitter data before, during and after the attack, the
research will study how conversations can be used to "promote
tolerance and inclusion instead of division and exclusion", it said.
Last year, Twitter and other tech firms like Facebook and YouTube
joined a global initiative called Christchurch Call launched by New
Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that aimed to bring together
governments and companies to eradicate extremist material shared
online. Ms Ardern said on Friday that 48 countries, eight online
service providers and three organisations have joined the initiative.
She added that the online distribution of violent videos in recent
attacks have been "far, far diminished" due to coordination between
the group. The Christchurch attack was live-streamed on Facebook for
17 minutes, and copies of the footage were later shared on Twitter,
YouTube and Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram. Millions of copies
of the footage were later taken down but many remain online, the
Counter Extremism Project said yesterday. "Sadly, the Christchurch
video remains a case study of how sites and platforms continue to be
misused by extremists, especially when tech companies fail to take the
steps necessary to prevent the hosting or broadcasting of extremist
content," it said.”
|
