The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by
extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit fol
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Extremist Content Online: Pro-ISIS Facebook Accounts Spread ISIS And Hurras
al-Din Propaganda
(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
Facebook accounts used to spread ISIS and Hurras al-Din video propaganda that
was viewed hundreds of times. Also, a notorious neo-Nazi accelerationist
Telegram channel urged followers to commit acts of sexual violence, including
rape, and directed members to write and send money to incarcerated El Paso
shooter Patrick Crusius. In addition, users of an 8chan successor imageboard
encouraged violence against Black Lives Matter and anti-fascist activists.
Meanwhile, a pro-ISIS tech group released an instructional video for
installing the program Virtual Box, which allows users to run embedded
operating systems. Finally, a U.S.-based neo-Nazi network posted a recruiting
video to Twitter, and white supremacists celebrated the publication of the
fraudulent anti-Semitic conspiracy theory called “Protocols of the Learned
Elders of Zion” by the FBI records vault Twitter account.
Facebook Accounts Spreading ISIS and Hurras al-Din Propaganda Located
Between August 15 and August 21, CEP researchers located several Facebook
pages involved in spreadingISIS <[link removed]>
and al-Qaeda affiliated Hurras al-Din propaganda.Hurras al-Din
<[link removed]> and its leaders are
U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorists
<[link removed]>. The
U.S. presently offers a$5 million reward for information
<[link removed]> on three of its
leaders.
Pro-ISIS accounts included those that spread text versions of Amaq News
updates, propaganda photos, short videos from pro-ISIS media groups, and clips
from official ISIS videos. An almost three-minute clip taken from an official
ISIS video had been on Facebook for approximately 48 hours, and had been viewed
over 650 times, and received 160 likes/reacts, 26 comments, and four shares.
Another clip taken from an official ISIS video released in February 2017,
included statements from two teenage suicide bombers and footage of their
suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonating. The video was
online for approximately three days when it was located, and had over 1,000
views 254 likes/reacts, 32 comments, and seven shares.
An account that spread al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Din propaganda posted a video
from the group, which was online for six days when it was located, with over
400 views and 82 likes/reacts. The same account also posted a video clip
featuring al-Qaeda leaderAyman al-Zawahiri
<[link removed]>, which had been
online for five days when it was located, and had over 350 views, and over 100
likes/reacts.
ISIS video clip on Facebook with over 1,000 views three days after it was
uploaded. August 20, 2020.
Notorious Neo-Nazi Accelerationist Telegram Channel Encourages Rape, Sexual
Violence, Sending Money to Incarcerated El Paso Shooter
A notorious neo-Nazi accelerationist channel encouraged its subscribers to
commit acts of sexual violence, including rape. The channel described sexual
violence as a weapon against opponents and urged individuals to commit these
acts as a way to gain power. A now-defunct web forum, Fascist Forge, that had a
similar worldview to the Telegram channel had advocated for acampaign
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of mass sexual violence. The channel also posted the jailhouse address for the
El Paso attacker, Patrick Crusius, and encouraged followers to write to him and
send him money.
The channel had over 2,200 subscribers on August 20 and is one of the most
notorious neo-Nazi propaganda outlets on Telegram. The channel routinely calls
for acts of violence and terrorism against the U.S. government, Jews, people of
color, the LGBT community, activists, and others. The channel has posted
material praising groups such as theAtomwaffen Division
<[link removed]>
,The Base <[link removed]>, the Sonnenkrieg
Division <[link removed]>, and
the neo-Nazi satanic occult group, theOrder of Nine Angles
<[link removed]>. The channel was
removed
<[link removed]>
from Telegram on June 24 but later returned using a different name.
Users of 8chan Successor Imageboard Encourage Violence Against Black Lives
Matter and Anti-Fascist Activists
Users of an 8chan successor imageboard made several posts encouraging violence
against Black Lives Matter and anti-fascist activists. Users requested content
showing violent acts committed against African Americans, and sought to
motivate other users to commit violent crimes. Users of the same board have
frequentlycalled
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for and encouraged violence, and havepraised
<[link removed]>
the Christchurch terror attack, among other mass shootings.
Pro-ISIS Tech Group Release Video on Installing Virtual Box
CEP researchers located a video originally released on August 13 by the
pro-ISIS tech group Electronic Horizons Foundation (EHF) showing how to install
the program Virtual Box. Virtual Box allows individuals to run embedded
operating systems. The EHF website used Cloudflare as its name server and
Tucows as its registrar.
EHF was created in 2016 to provide cybersecurity and web technical assistance
to ISIS supporters. The group currently operates several points of
communication and releases a semi-regular tech bulletin.
U.S. Based Neo-Nazi Network Posts Recruiting Video to Twitter
A U.S. based neo-Nazi network that seeks to establish autonomous allied group
chapters around the U.S. and Europe posted a recruitment video on Twitter on
August 15. The network hub claims that each regional chapter acts on its own
“legal or otherwise,” and that the purpose is to establish worldwide club
affiliates. The network, which started as a white supremacist fight club in New
England, claims to have allied groups in Tennessee, the Midwest, and the
Southwest, in addition to Germany and France. The Twitter page was created in
May 2020. The Southwest chapter posted an image on August 16 of seven men
posing with rifles, the group’s flag, and a flag for the Rise Above Movement
(RAM).
White Supremacists Celebrate FBI Posting of “Protocols of the Learned Elders
of Zion”
On August 19, the FBI records vault Twitter account posted the FOIA file for
the fraudulent anti-Semitic “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” along
with government documents related to the report’s government circulation.
Included were pdfs from government sources stating that the text was a fraud,
however, the entire file was posted without context and was widely circulated.
The “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” is a fraudulent anti-Semitic
conspiracy theory dating from early 20th century Russia that purports to expose
a Jewish cabal seeking to control the world. White supremacists and
anti-Semites on Telegram and Twitter celebrated the posting and the reaction to
it online and used the occasion to post and spread the anti-Semitic document.
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