Eye on Extremism
August 22, 2019
Reuters:
Trump Says Other Countries Need To Fight Islamic
State
“U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that other countries
will need to take up the fight against Islamic State militants, citing
Russia, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran as examples. Earlier this year,
U.S.-backed forces reclaimed the last remaining territory once held by
Islamic State militants in Syria. Since then, however, there has been
concern about the militant group gaining new strength in Iraq and
Syria. ”At a certain point Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey,
they’re going to have to fight their battles,” Trump told reporters at
the White House, later saying India should also get involved. ”All of
these other countries where ISIS is around ... all of these are going
to have to fight,” he said, adding that the United States did not want
to spend “another 19 years” fighting the Afghan war. U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo acknowledged on Tuesday that Islamic State militants
were gaining strength in some areas but said the militant group’s
capacity to conduct attacks has been greatly diminished. The State
Department, also on Tuesday, offered a reward of up to $5 million each
for information leading to the location of ISIS leaders it identified
as Muhammad Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, and
Mutaz Numan Abd Nayif Najm al-Jaburi.”
CBS
News: Wave Of Shooting Threats Renews Debate Over How To Combat
Domestic Terrorism
“There's been a wave of arrests of people who police said
threatened to carry out mass shootings after this month's massacres in
Dayton and El Paso, renewing the debate over how to best combat
domestic terrorism threats. CBS News senior national security analyst
Fran Townsend said on “CBS This Morning” Wednesday that the U.S. needs
to start employing the strategies used to fight terrorism abroad here
at home. “It is an epidemic. There is no question there's a rise in
anti-Semitism, racism,” Townsend said. “What we need to understand is
many of the lessons learned about fighting international terrorism
apply here domestically.” But applying those same tactics isn't that
simple. International agencies have a different set of resources to
work with than domestic law enforcement, primarily in terms of
surveillance and subpoena capability, according to Townsend. “No
question ... that we had all these authorities when we were fighting
international terrorism, that we thought, 'Well, do we really want to
apply those here in the United States?' I think there are privacy and
civil liberties concerns. There are First Amendment concerns. I think
we've got to get over that, and I think we have to understand that
there's a balance, but we've got to give law enforcement both the
resources and the authorities they need.”
USA
Today: Sites Like Facebook, Google And Twitter Allowed White
Supremacists To Flourish. Now What?
“Before walking into a Norwegian mosque with a pair of shotguns
earlier this month, Philip Manshaus called for a race war in a
statement he posted on the dark reaches of social media. He couldn’t
go to 8chan, the renegade message board where suspects in three recent
mass shootings had uploaded white nationalist screeds. That board had
been booted days earlier by its internet provider, after the man
suspected of killing 22 people in an El Paso Walmart posted his own
hate-filled manifesto. It wasn’t hard for Manshaus to find a
megaphone, though. The 21-year-old – whose Aug. 10 attack was foiled
when a worshiper tackled him – posted on a little-known board
called endchan. Much attention since the El Paso shooting on Aug. 3
has focused on 8chan. But white supremacists remain active all
across the web – including on the biggest social media sites, where
they proselytize in plain sight. Attempts to curb racist and violent
views on the internet have become serious only recently,
with limited success. In April, a white nationalist charged with
killing 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,
livestreamed his gruesome shooting spree on Facebook. David Duke, the
former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, still maintains his own
YouTube channel, as do other prominent white nationalist groups.”
The
New York Times: 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan As Talks With
Taliban Resume
“Two United States soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday
as violence has intensified amid peace talks and American casualties
have risen with it. A statement by the United States military command
announcing the deaths did not provide details, which the Pentagon does
not disclose until families are notified. But Afghan and American
officials said the soldiers were from an Army Special Forces unit
carrying out an operation in restive Faryab Province in the north, and
had most likely died during a firefight. “Our commandos and the
Americans had an operation last night and there was fighting until 1
a.m.,” said Abdul Manan Qateh, the district governor of Almar, where
the battle was said to have taken place. The deaths on Wednesday bring
American military fatalities in the country this year to 14, up
from 13 deaths in 2018 and 11 in 2017. The rising toll is a sign of
how the American military is taking a more aggressive role in the
conflict again after drawing down to about 14,000 troops and taking on
a largely advisory role as Afghan forces fight the Taliban. Those
Afghan forces bear the brunt of the conflict, with roughly two dozen
fatalities a day. Both sides are intensifying attacks as American
diplomats try to negotiate a deal with the Taliban to end the 18-year
war.”
United States
CNN:
ISIS Fighters May Not Go To Guantanamo Bay, Trump Says In Apparent
Policy Shift
“President Donald Trump Wednesday appeared to rule out sending the
thousands of ISIS foreign fighters currently being detained by US
allies in Syria to the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
saying that the ISIS detainees should be repatriated to their
countries of origin. “We're going to tell them and we've already told
them take these prisoners that we've captured because the United
States is not going to put them in Guantanamo for the next 50 years
and pay for it,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. Trump's
statement represents a shift from comments he made previously after he
signed an executive memorandum which raised the prospect of sending
ISIS fighters there. “I am asking Congress to ensure that in the fight
against ISIS and al Qaeda we continue to have all necessary power to
detain terrorists wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them.
And in many cases for them it will now be Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said
at his State of the Union address in January. Also Wednesday, Trump
repeated a threat to “release” ISIS fighters back to their country of
origin. “We're holding thousands of ISIS fighters right now and Europe
has to take them and if Europe doesn't take them, I'll have no choice
but to release them into the countries from which they came which is
Germany and France and other places,” Trump said.”
CNN:
At Least 27 People Have Been Arrested Over Threats To Commit Mass
Attacks Since The El Paso And Dayton Shootings
“When authorities arrived Friday to arrest a 15-year-old in Florida
after threats to commit a school shooting showed up on a video game
platform, he told them he was joking, they said. “I Dalton Barnhart
vow to bring my fathers m15 to school and kill 7 people at a minimum,”
the boy wrote using a fake name, according to a Volusia County
Sheriff's Office report. The teen is one of more than two dozen people
who have been arrested over threats to commit mass shootings since 31
people were killed in one weekend this month in shootings in El Paso,
Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. The raft of cases follows a directive by the
FBI director immediately after the two early August massacres for
agency offices nationwide to conduct a new threat assessment in an
effort to thwart more mass attacks. The FBI was concerned that
US-based domestic violent extremists could become inspired by the
attacks to “engage in similar acts of violence,” the agency said in a
statement. Indeed, it was a tip to the FBI that sent sheriff's
deputies to the home of the Florida teen, the sheriff's report states.
CNN is not naming him because he is a minor. A woman who said the boy
is her son told authorities that kids say things like that all the
time and her child should not be treated like a terrorist, body-camera
footage from the arrest shows.”
Syria
CNN:
Defense Secretary Says ISIS Not In A Resurgent State In Syria Despite
Pentagon Report Saying ISIS Is Re-Surging
“Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that ISIS was not
“in a resurgent state in Syria” despite a Pentagon inspector general
report saying the terror group is re-surging in that country. “I don't
agree that ISIS is in a resurgent state in Syria, but that doesn't
mean we haven't seen them spring up in places like Afghanistan,” Esper
said in an interview with Fox News, his first since becoming Defense
secretary. His comments appear to be at odds with a report from the
Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General published earlier this
month, which said ISIS was “re-surging” in Syria following President
Donald Trump's decision to reduce troops there. “Despite losing its
territorial 'caliphate,' the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was re-surging in
Syria,” the report said. Trump initially sought to withdraw all US
troops from Syria but later opted to keep a residual force in place.
At the height of the anti-ISIS campaign the US had just under 3,000
troops in Syria. Those numbers have been reduced by more than half,
according to officials. The report said that reduction had made it
harder for the US to advise America's local allies including the
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who have led the fight on the
ground.”
Daily
Sabah: More Syrians Return Home To Terror-Free Areas
“Another group of 150 Syrians returned home in northern Syria
Tuesday to settle in areas secured from terrorist organizations by the
Turkish military. A large number of Syrian refugees have headed back
home since 2015 within the scope of the Assisted Voluntary Return and
Reintegration (AVRR) program run jointly by Turkey's Directorate
General of Migration and the U.N. Migration Agency (IOM). Since the
Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, millions of Syrians had sought
refuge in Turkey, where the government has provided them all kinds of
assistance and rights to education, health and work. Turkey has
undertaken the responsibility to take in and care for refugees who are
trying to survive, rebuild their lives and look to the future with
hope. The 150 refugees, including women and children, boarded their
buses after completing the necessary processes at the Directorate of
Migration the office. They crossed into Syria using the Öncüpınar
Border Gate in southeastern Turkey's Kilis. One of the refugees,
Muhammed Haydar Bekkari, had left his war-torn hometown Afrin eight
years ago and migrated to Turkey. He said he decided to return home as
the region he was living in was now clear off terrorists. “I would
like to express my gratitude to the Turkish people and especially the
president,” he said.”
Iran
The
Washington Post: Iran-Backed Militias In Iraq Threaten Foreign
Aircraft, Adding To Speculation Israel Is Bombing
Iraq
“Iranian-backed militias in Iraq warned Wednesday that foreign
aircraft flying over the country may be treated as “hostile” amid
growing suspicions that Israel is responsible for mysterious
explosions at militia bases. The warning came in a statement issued
by Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy commander of the powerful
coalition of Shiite Muslim militias known as Hashd al-Shaabi, or
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes paramilitary groups
that owe allegiance to Iran. The statement blamed Israeli drones for
four big blasts at militia bases over the past month, all of them at
warehouses storing ammunition and weapons, and accused the U.S.
military of aiding the strikes by allowing Israel to use U.S. bases in
Iraq. “We have informed the Joint Operations Command that we will
regard any foreign aircraft flying over our headquarters without the
knowledge of the Iraqi government as hostile, and will deal with it
accordingly,” the statement said. This content is paid for by an
advertiser and published by WP BrandStudio. The Washington Post
newsroom was not involved in the creation of this content. Learn more
about WP BrandStudio. The U.S. military responded by tweeting that it
operates in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government and complies
with all Iraqi laws and directions. The only purpose for being in Iraq
is “to enable our Iraqi Security Force partners in the mission of an
enduring defeat of Daesh,” the military said, using the Arabic acronym
for the Islamic State.”
Iraq
Deutsche
Welle: German Defense Minister Meets Islamic State Victims In
Iraq
“German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer concluded her
three-day tour of the Middle East on Wednesday, full of admiration for
the women and girls from the Yazidi minority group in northern
Iraq who were enslaved and abused by “Islamic State” militants. “These
women have witnessed unspeakable things,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said. The
recently installed defense minister was wary of history repeating
itself as she said: “They need more targeted help so that they are not
victims of this terrorism a second time.” The fight against IS has not
finished, the German politician admitted. “This was a very emotional
moment for me this morning, and that alone is a good reason to say: We
should continue acting here in this region,” she said. During her
visit to Erbil, the region's capital and the most populated city in
Iraqi Kurdistan, Kramp-Karrenbauer also met with Kurdish Interior
Minister Rebar Ahmed. After her meeting with Ahmed, the German Defense
Ministry quoted Ahmed on Twitter as saying, ”Our plea to the
international community and Germany: strengthen your presence here in
the region.” Kramp-Karrenbauer expressed her gratitude to the Iraqi
Kurdish fighters for their help in fighting the militants.”
New
Europe: ISIS Resurging In Iraq And Syria
“The Islamic State is gathering new strength and conducting
guerrilla attacks across Iraq and Syria, the New York Times reports.
It is estimated that ISIS still has up to 18,000 fighters on the
ground, who are still actively undermining the consolidation of peace
by means of assassinations, ambushes, kidnapping, and sniper attacks.
They are thought to have a war chest of $400 million, controlling a
string of businesses ranging from fish farming to cannabis
plantations. According to Al-Monitor, a high-profile attack occurred
in August in northern Iraq, when armed men claiming IS allegiance held
a public beheading of a policeman in a rural village south of the city
of Samarra in Salahuddin Province, north of Baghdad. A US inspector
general report suggests that the withdrawal of 1,000 US troops and the
gradual withdrawal of support for Kurdish fighters is creating a
number of challenges. Kurdish forces hold over 10,000 IS fighters as
prisoners, including 2,000 foreigners, at the Al-Hol camp in northern
Syria. A recent UN report echoes the view that Al-Hol could become a
breeding ground for an IS resurgence. At the moment, Washington has
limited ability to stop the resurgence of IS attacks and is now
focusing on preventing the spread of such phenomena in urban
areas.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Three Turkish Soldiers Killed In Clash With Kurdish
Militants
“Three Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with Kurdish
militants in southeast Turkey near the borders with Syria and Iraq,
the local governor’s office said on Thursday. Three militants from the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were “neutralized” in the
fighting, the Sirnak governor’s office said in a written statement.
It said the soldiers were maintaining security for state energy
company Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) near the town of Silopi in Sirnak
when the clash broke out on Wednesday. The militants had previously
been spotted by a drone in the same area, it said. The PKK, designated
a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European
Union, launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984. More
than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Examiner: ISIS Replacing Taliban As Biggest Threat To Peace
In Afghanistan While Rebounding In Iraq And Syria
“A pair of congressionally mandated Pentagon reports out this month
paint a sobering picture of brutal Islamic State fighters who have
been disrupted but not defeated and are on the rise in Iraq, Syria,
and Afghanistan. The latest report from the Department of Defense’s
lead inspector general — delivered to Congress Friday and released
publicly yesterday — covers U.S. counterterrorism operations in
Afghanistan and concludes that ISIS’ Afghan offshoot remains “a
significant threat.” Apart from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission,
which aims to build up Afghan government forces fighting the Taliban,
the United States has a separate mission dubbed “Freedom’s Sentinel,”
which uses U.S. Special Operations Forces and “partner forces” to
launch unilateral operations against al Qaeda and increasingly the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – Khorasan or ISIS-K. “[W]hile these
operations have disrupted ISIS-K, the terrorist group will remain an
enduring threat in Afghanistan, even if the Afghan government and the
Taliban reach a political settlement,” the report concludes.”
Yemen
Gulf
Today: Arab Coalition Forces Shoot Down Two Saudi-Bound Houthi
Drones
“The Arab Coalition Forces on Thursday morning intercepted and shot
down two drones launched by the Houthi militia from Yemen's Amran
province towards Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Press
Agency, SPA, quoted the Coalition Spokesman Colonel Turki Al Maliki as
saying that “all attempts by the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi
militia to launch drones are doomed to fail.” He explained that the
Coalition follows rules of engagement to prevent civilian casualties
when responding to such threats, adding that the “repeated attempts
reflect the despair of the terrorist militia.” Al Maliki added that by
resorting to misleading media reporting of its false successes,
further confirms the magnitude of losses the militia is suffering and
the popular discontent it’s facing. He concluded by stressing that the
Joint Forces Command of the Coalition continues to implement deterrent
measures against the terrorist militia to “neutralise and destroy
these capabilities strictly and in accordance with international
humanitarian law.”
The
Jordan Times: Extremists Undermining Chances Of Peace In
Yemen
“The politico-military advantage in the stalemated war in Yemen has
shifted recently in favour of the Houthi rebels, who are now
reinforcing their political position ahead of prospective peace talks
by calling on Iran for support. Having shunned accusations of an
Iranian-Houthi connection over the four and a half years of war, the
Houthis dispatched a delegation to meet with no less a figure than
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and appointed an
ambassador to Tehran. The encounter with Khamenei also marked a major
change in attitude towards the Yemeni war at the senior-most level in
Iran's two-tier system of government, of clerical and elected
personnel, in which he is the ultimate decider. Khamenei declared his
“support for the mujahidah [struggle] for Yemen”, and accused Saudi
Arabia and the Emirates of seeking “to divide Yemen”. In a signal that
Iran may intend to become involved in peace-making, Houthi
representatives met the ambassadors of Britain, France, Germany and
Italy to Tehran. The participants discussed the crisis in Yemen and
agreed that the conflict must be settled through political action.
They urged the parties to implement the truce agreement reached in
Stockholm last December and extend it to the whole of the
country.”
Middle East
The
Washington Post: Our Son, Hadar Goldin, Was Abducted By Hamas. We Want
His Remains Returned.
“Five years ago this month, our son Hadar Goldin, a second
lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces, was abducted by Hamas
militants during a humanitarian cease-fire in the 50-day war along the
Gaza border with Israel. The militants dragged him into the tunnel
from which they had apparently emerged. Hadar was killed — it is not
clear how — during the ensuing firefight as Israeli forces raced to
try to rescue him. To this day, we believe that Hamas holds our son’s
remains, presumably as a bargaining chip to extract political
concessions — just as it holds the remains of Oron Shaul, another
Israeli soldier who was killed during the conflict, as well
as hostages Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. Hadar, who was 23 when
he died, was a gifted young man, a teacher and artist with a winning
smile. He was also a budding Talmudic scholar whose notebooks were
published posthumously. The death of one’s child is the most painful
loss, and finding true comfort will never be possible. But our loss
has been made even more devastating because Hadar’s body has not been
returned. Jewish tradition requires a speedy burial. The idea is found
in the Bible, which demands that even executed prisoners be buried
swiftly.”
Egypt
The
Times Of Israel: Egypt Arrests Son Of PA Official, A BDS Activist, For
Aiding ‘Terror Group’
“The family of prominent Palestinian politician Nabil Shaath
accused Egyptian authorities on Wednesday of arresting Shaath’s son
Ramy last month. He has been charged with allegedly aiding a terrorist
group, but the family says Ramy was targeted because he criticized the
Egyptian government’s ties with Israel and the US as part of his role
in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
“Ramy was arrested on Friday July 5th at 12:45 AM, from his home in
Cairo,” the family said in a statement on Facebook. “At least a dozen
heavily armed security agents stormed and searched his residence
without presenting any legal document,” they added. The son of a
senior Palestinian politician and Oslo peace process negotiator, Ramy
also entered politics and served as an adviser to Palestinian
Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat. The 48-year-old has lived
since 1977 in Egypt, where he has citizenship. His arrest came 10 days
after authorities raided 19 businesses allegedly tied to the banned
Muslim Brotherhood, accusing them of funding a plot to overthrow the
state. Among those also arrested were several prominent secular
activists including former lawmaker Zyad el-Elaimy. After disappearing
for 36 hours, Shaath appeared before prosecutors and was charged with
aiding a “terrorist group” connected to the same plot, the family
said.”
Libya
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Battles Intensify In Tripoli, Militants Surrender To
LNA
“Clashes between the Libyan National Army and Government of
National Accord intensified in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday.
Fierce battles were reported in the al-Sbeaa area in southern Tripoli
as LNA chief Khalifa Haftar ordered army commanders to refrain from
making statements to the media on the military’s advances. A senior
LNA military official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the situation on the
ground was “excellent”. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said
that the army was close to liberating Tripoli. The army carried out a
number of airstrikes on GNA positions in the capital, but did not
disclose details about human or material losses. The LNA had launched
in April an operation to cleanse the capital of pro-GNA militias.
Meanwhile, LNA media said that a group of militants loyal to the
Deterrence Force surrendered to the army. In the South, the LNA said
its jets were continuing to strike positions of Chadian mercenaries in
the city of Murzuq. The strikes were carried out hours after the
parliament declared it a violence-stricken city and after the army
withdrew its forces. The GNA seized Murzuq, while the LNA had
officially accused ISIS and Chadian opposition groups of controlling
the city.”
Nigeria
National
Review: The U.S. Must Remain In Africa’s Fight Against Boko
Haram
“On Thursday, August 15, the international terrorist group Boko
Haram attacked a military base and community in Nigeria, killing three
soldiers. This comes on the heels of an even deadlier attack three
weeks ago, when armed members of the group rode motorcycles into a
funeral in northern Nigeria and opened fire on the procession, killing
65 mourners. For many, these are just forgettable attacks by Boko
Haram. But for me, this story hit close to home. A few years ago, I
was an investigative journalist reporting from where the carnage
occurred. And years before that, I served as a Navy SEAL in Africa
trying to prevent such carnage from taking place at all. In today’s
era of trade war with China and potential hot wars with Iran and North
Korea, it’s easy to overlook the threat posed by Boko Haram, and
conflicts in Africa more broadly. But I believe we ignore the
continent and terrorist groups such as Boko Haram at our peril — and
we’d better pay attention now before events force us to pay attention
later. Boko Haram is most famous, of course, for its 2014
kidnapping of roughly 300 young girls, an event that shocked the world
and even led First Lady Michelle Obama to post a photo with the
hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.”
Africa
Reuters:
Suspected Jihadists Kill Five Malian Troops In Ambush
“Suspected jihadists killed five Malian soldiers on Wednesday in an
ambush in the West African country’s volatile centre, the army said,
the latest in a string of attacks targeting local security forces in
the Sahel region. The statement said the soldiers were travelling
between the towns of Hombori and Boni, about 100 km north of the
Burkina Faso border, when they fell into an ambush. It came days after
gunmen killed 24 soldiers in an attack on an army unit in neighbouring
Burkina Faso. “FAMA (Malian armed forces) deplores the killing of
five people, which also destroyed military equipment,” the statement
said. “Reinforcements have been sent back there.” The remote, grassy
borderlands where Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger meet has become a haven
for militants and criminal outfits linked to Islamic State in the
Greater Sahara. Jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State
have exploited ethnic rivalries in Mali and its neighbours to boost
recruitment and render swathes of territory ungovernable. French
forces intervened in Mali in 2013 to push back a jihadist advance from
the desert north but the militants have since regrouped and expanded
their presence. Some 4,500 French troops remain based in the wider
Sahel, which consists mostly of former French colonies, most of them
in Mali.”
Xinhua:
Boko Haram Kills One, Abducts Seven In Cameroon's Far North
Region
“A bus driver was killed and seven passengers kidnapped when terror
group Boko Haram hijacked a commercial bus in Cameroon's Far North
region on Tuesday, Cameroon army said on Wednesday. “There were 19
passengers altogether when the terrorists attacked. The driver was
killed on the spot, and seven passengers were kidnapped. The other 11
passengers were rescued by security forces,” the army said stating
that the tragedy took place in Dabanga, a locality in the Logone and
Chari division of the Far North region. The Cameroon army is
conducting a rescue mission to secure the safe release of the
passengers, according to local authorities.”
United Kingdom
Vice:
How A UK-Born Accused Terrorist Suddenly Became
Canadian
“The curious case of “Jihadi Jack” having his British citizenship
strippedshows just how little Western countries want to deal with
their own citizens suspected of committing acts of terrorism abroad.
One expert calls it “anti-terrorism NIMBYism.” Jack Letts, better
known by his media-given name “Jihadi Jack,” converted to Islam as a
young man, and travelled to the Middle East from the U.K. in 2014.
While his activities in the Middle East aren’t documented extensively,
it’s been alleged he was involved with ISIS and supported terrorist
actions, which he and his family deny. Letts, 26, is currently being
held in a prison in northern Syria by Kurdish forces. He’s been in
captivity for two and a half years. In June, his parents were
found guilty of funding terrorism by providing their son with funds.
Letts, his Canadian-born father, and English mother are all dual
citizens of the U.K. and Canada. While it’s illegal under
international law to make a citizen stateless, it’s not illegal to
strip documents if they still have citizenship elsewhere, as is the
case with the Letts. Back in February, Letts said he wanted to go back
to the U.K., but he didn’t think his home would take him back. For a
while there seemed to be some Canadian effort to bring Letts to
Canada, but that seems to have since died down.”
Technology
NBC
News: Extremists Creep Into Roblox, An Online Game Popular With
Children
“It’s become an almost inevitable problem on the internet: If you
build it, they will troll. That is, if a company builds a successful
gaming or social media platform, trolls, extremists and other users
spouting noxious speech will find a way to those online locations.
This week, a Twitter user by the name of @lululemew started to find
neo-Nazi references on Roblox, a popular online game that has more
than 100 million active users worldwide and is popular with children.
While such disturbing user names, profiles and content in Roblox
aren’t new, they got renewed attention from this woman’s tweets. “My
kid plays Roblox,” she wrote in an attempt to alert the company. “Did
you know you have members on your site promoting
#WhitePowerExtremist #DomesticTerrorism groups?” Roblox, like
Minecraft, allows users to create avatars and virtual worlds for those
characters to roam around in. While most people use the game’s
platform to create fun, innocuous characters, some have used it to try
to spread hateful messages. The game has become yet another frontier
in the ongoing battle over content moderation and appropriate lines of
speech on private platforms that are now often spaces where people
congregate.”
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