The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by
extremists and terrorist groups on the Internet to spread propaganda and incite
violence. Last week, CEP researchers identified seven accounts across Twitter,
TikTok, and Instagram sharing clips from the Christchurch terrorist attack, all
of which were promptly reported to national authorities for further action and
were taken down as of April 2.
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Extremist Content Online: Content Containing Clips From Christchurch Terrorist
Attack Located On Twitter, TikTok, And Instagram
(New York, N.Y.) — The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the
methods used by extremists and terrorist groups on the Internet to spread
propaganda and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers identified seven
accounts across Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram sharing clips from the
Christchurch terrorist attack, all of which were promptly reported to national
authorities for further action and were taken down as of April 2.
Also, last week, ISIS released an audio announcement from their spokesperson
commemorating the tenth anniversary of the declaration of the caliphate and
calling for attacks. Pro-ISIS online propaganda groups, including al-Murhifat
Media, al-Battar Media, and Talaea Ansar Foundation, released images
celebrating the March 22 attack on a concert hall near Moscow, depicting scenes
of violence and encouraging further acts of terrorism.
A pro-al-Qaeda online group released a pamphlet online in French, English, and
Arabic, calling for the assassination of French President Emmanuel Macron.
CEP researchers also identified a Telegram channel connected to a
Bulgarian-based web shop that offered to create personalized flags for chapters
of the white supremacist Active Club movement. Additionally, extreme right
Telegram accounts capitalized on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge
in Baltimore last week, focusing on the container ship crew’s ethnicity to
spread anti-Indian hate.
Content Containing Clips From Christchurch Terrorist Attack Located on
Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram
CEP researchers located seven accounts on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram that
uploaded content containing clips from the Christchurch terrorist attack video.
Four accounts were found on Twitter that included a GIF of violent footage from
the attack, a 30-second clip, an edited 87-second clip, and a two-minute video
with over 500 views.
A TikTok account used a photo of the attacker as a profile photo, quoted the
attacker’s manifesto in the bio, and utilized an anti-Muslim slogan as a
profile name. In addition, the user uploaded a clip from the attack video with
over 2,100 views when found almost four months after it was posted. An account
on Instagram uploaded at least three clips from the Christchurch video and
footage from the May 2022 Buffalo attack. The seven accounts were all reported
to national authorities. All seven accounts were removed from their respective
platforms by April 2.
CEP researchers located six additional accounts on TikTok that glorified the
attacker and encouraged violence against Muslims. Accounts included photos of
the attacker and videos honoring him, neo-Nazi symbols, and an Atomwaffen
Division-affiliated propaganda video. CEP reported the six accounts to TikTok
on March 27, of which five accounts were still on the website on April 2.
“Users of these social media sites are spreading footage of the Christchurch
attack in hopes of inspiring others to commit acts of terrorism against Muslims
and others,” said CEP researcher Joshua Fisher-Birch. “Twitter, TikTok, and
Instagram need to improve their methods for detecting and removing this
content, and ban users who spread it. Individuals are actively encouraging lone
actor attacks on these platforms.”
A video from the Atomwaffen Division “Fission” breakaway group on TikTok.
Screenshot taken on March 27. The account that posted this video was still on
TikTok on April 2.
ISIS Spokesperson Releases Audio Message
On March 28, ISIS <[link removed]>’s
spokesperson Abu Hudayfah al-Ansari released an approximately 40-minute-long
audio message via the group’s al-Furqan media group. The address commemorated
the tenth anniversary of the declaration of the caliphate in June 2014.
Al-Ansari noted that the organization has expanded from its beginnings in Syria
and Iraq to Afghanistan, Pakistan, West Africa, Central Africa, Mozambique, the
Sahel region, Somalia, and the Philippines. Al-Ansari also congratulated ISIS
fighters in different areas, noting the recent ISIS victories in Mozambique and
attacks in Afghanistan against the Taliban, religious minority groups, and the
U.S., Russia, and China. He also mentioned the recent attack on a Russian
concert hall near Moscow, noting that it was revenge for Russia’s fighting
against ISIS in Syria and the Sahel region, and noted the October 31, 2015
attack on a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula.
Al-Ansari also emphasized the importance of pledging allegiance to ISIS’s
leader and encouraged translating and spreading the archive of online ISIS
propaganda. This content’s global spread was declared secondary in importance
only to physical fighting.
The speech also called for attacks to free those in the al-Hawl camp in Syria.
Al-Ansari called for global attacks against local allies of the U.S. fighting
against ISIS, invoking the Camp Speicher massacre.
Al-Ansari’s previous message
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was released on January 4, 2024.
Title image announcing al-Furqan audio statement released on March 28.
Online Pro-Al-Qaeda Group Calls for Assassination of French President
On March 30, the pro-al-Qaeda
<[link removed]> online group al-Kifah Media
released a nine-page pamphlet in French, Arabic, and English calling for the
murder of French President Emmanuel Macron. The pamphlet stated that the French
government had legalized anti-Muslim sentiment and discrimination and defamed
the religion. The author mentioned previous attacks on global leaders, such as
the assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as examples that the
security of world leaders was not impregnable.
Pro-ISIS Online Propaganda Groups Continue to Release Images Celebrating
Moscow Attack
Pro-ISIS online propaganda groups continued to release images celebrating the
terrorist group’s March 22 attack on a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow,
where at least 143 people were killed. CEP researchers located a dozen images
made by the pro-ISIS groups al-Murhifat Media, al-Battar Media, Talaea Ansar
Foundation, and others. The propaganda posters, which were uploaded to Telegram
and RocketChat, encouraged additional acts of violence, claimed that ISIS could
launch attacks around the world, and that they were fighting a global war from
Mozambique to Russia with multiple points in between. The propaganda images
included modified photos released from ISIS’s Amaq Agency, as well as images
made by pro-ISIS propagandists.
Pro-ISIS propaganda does not have a specific connection to ISIS propaganda
networks. The group’s online supporters create the posters and images and are a
low-effort way to amplify the terrorist group’s message, often encouraging or
celebrating acts of violence.
Online Store Based in Bulgaria Offers to Make Active Club Flags
A Telegram channel connected to a web shop that operates from Bulgaria posted
a message offering to make customized flags for individual chapters of the
white supremacist Active Club movement. The account displayed a flag produced
for a U.S.-based chapter of the movement. The store, which offers global
shipping, sells items featuring swastikas and Nazi symbols, including jewelry,
badges, posters, and prints featuring Adolf Hitler, and promoting neo-Nazism
and antisemitism. The website sells a variety of books by Hitler, the esoteric
Nazi religious ideologue Savitri Devi, as well as James Mason’s bookSiege
<[link removed]>. The
shop states on its website that all packages hide the nature of the contents
and are sent with an innocuous name and item description for customs.
Extreme Right Telegram Accounts Promote Anti-Indian Hate Following Baltimore
Bridge Collapse
Extreme right Telegram accounts and chat users promoted anti-Indian hate after
a container ship caused the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse
after hitting a support column on March 26. Telegram channel administrators
posted information alleging that the ship’s crew was Indian, seeking to place
blame on non-white and non-American workers. Accounts alleged that the media
organizations sought to cover up the crew’s nationality.
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