(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, users of an 8chan
successor site detailed a plot to target and harass the Zoom classes
of students at a Jewish day school in Philadelphia, and encouraged
other users to participate. Additionally, al-Qaeda issued a statement
declaring the novel coronavirus to be a divine punishment that has
“exposed the brittleness of a global economy dominated by the United
States,” while ISIS released a new propaganda video from Syria showing
combat footage and prisoner executions. Also, CEP identified a video
created by neo-Nazi James Mason in which he urged his viewers to
follow biblical prophecies and praised Hitler, additionally a neo-Nazi
accelerationist Telegram channel that advocates for violence posted
links to a non-affiliated group that offers instructions on how to
build a pistol with 3D printed components. Finally, four Atomwaffen
Division (AWD) videos were reuploaded to YouTube from an account
linked to an AWD supporter group on Telegram.
Users of 8chan Successor Website Encourage
Targeted Harassment of Jewish Students Using Zoom
Classes
Users on the 8chan successor website posted Zoom links
and the online class schedule for a Jewish day school in Philadelphia,
encouraging anti-Semitic targeted harassment on April 1. The board
where the post was made frequently shares racist, anti-Semitic, and
white supremacist content. The 8chan successor website uses Vanwanet
as its name server and Eranet as its registrar. Posters on the same
board have praised the Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant, and
similar attacks in Poway, California, and El Paso, Texas.
Al-Qaeda Releases Statement on
Coronavirus
On March 31, al-Qaeda released a statement declaring
that the novel coronavirus is divine punishment that has “exposed the
brittleness of a global economy dominated by the United States.” The
release delares that now is the time for Muslim societies to embrace
piety and repent. Al-Qaeda also called for people in the West to
convert to Islam, and criticized the U.S. for global military
operations. The statement also points out the “callousness” of Western
leaders, stating that they “are least concerned about the health of
the societies they are responsible for,” pointing out shortages of
personal protective equipment and money spent on “imperialist,
expansionist cravings” instead of medical supplies as evidence. The
statement was posted on a website that uses Cloudflare as its name
server and Tucows as its registrar.
New ISIS Video Released on Multiple
Websites
On March 31, ISIS released a new propaganda video from
the group’s self-proclaimed province in Homs, Syria. The video shows
combat between ISIS and Syrian regime forces, and includes attacks on
Syrian armored units. The video includes numerous executions of
prisoners, and concludes with the execution of two men using
explosives, and one with an anti-aircraft cannon.
In addition to Telegram, the video was released on
approximately 13 websites: Mega.nz, Mediafire, the Microsoft One
Drive, Amazon Cloud, the Internet Archive, mail.ru, file.fm, Top4top,
Nextcloud, ok.ru, Tune.pk, Dropbox, and Yadi.sk. Approximately 48
hours later, the video was still available on five websites in
addition to Telegram: Mediafire, file.fm, Top4top, Nextcloud, and
Yadi.sk. Links to the video were spread via Telegram, Telegra.ph, and
RocketChat.
In New Video James Mason Praises Hitler,
Advises Viewers to Believe in White Supremacist End-Times
Theology
CEP researchers located a video made by neo-Nazi James Mason, the author of Siege, who argued for his followers to
embrace end times theology. Mason declared that Adolf Hitler was the
Biblical prophet Elijah, and that at present “we are living in the age
of Satan.” Mason went on to declare that inequality is ordained by
God, and that democracy and societies built on equality are unnatural
and Satanic. Addressing his followers, Mason told the audience not to
commit violent acts against the government because of the high
likelihood of being caught, and that it was not worth “sacrificing
yourself needlessly.” The video was uploaded to a “free speech”
streaming platform based in the United Kingdom.
In a podcast in September 2019, Mason walked back his previous support for violence,
stating that he never “urged or advised” any unlawful activities.
Mason’s book Siege calls for violence against the U.S. government and
racial and religious groups, and has helped inspire several violent
extremist groups including the Atomwaffen Division and The Base.
Neo-Nazi Accelerationist Telegram Channel
Shares Information on 3D Printing
Firearms
On March 30, a neo-Nazi accelerationist Telegram channel
that advocates for violence shared links to a non-affiliated website
with instructions for making a pistol with 3D printed components. The
Telegram channel has over 5,000 subscribers. The same channel has previously shared similar links containing instructions for making
3D printed firearms.
Atomwaffen Division Videos Reuploaded to
YouTube
Four Atomwaffen (AWD) Division propaganda videos were
uploaded to YouTube on March 25 and located on March 30. The videos
had over 200 combined views. The account that uploaded the videos,
which advocated for violence against Jews in their YouTube “about”
section, is linked to a Telegram channel which claims to be an AWD
supporter group, despite AWD’s claim to have disbanded. The videos were removed
shortly after they were located on March 30th. CEP researchers have
found numerous examples of AWD propaganda that have
been reuploaded to YouTube, despite being previously removed. YouTube
claimed to have banned AWD videos in February
2018, however there is no evidence that the platform has added the
group’s videos to their upload filters.
Atomwaffen
Division video on YouTube five days after it was uploaded, March 30,
2020.
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