ISIS Bomb-Making Video Remains Online Over Three Years Later


<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Tech & Terrorism: Online Propaganda Shown As Factor In Deadly Manchester
Bombing
ISIS Bomb-Making Video Remains Online Over Three Years Later


(New York, N.Y.) – This month, the Manchester Magistrates’ Court launched a
public inquiry examining alleged failures to prevent the May 2017Manchester
Arena bombing
<[link removed]>
, in whichSalman Abedi
<[link removed]> killed 22 people and
wounded 250 in a suicide bombing. The inquiry has partly focused on Abedi’s
younger brother,Hashem Abedi
<[link removed]>, who in March was
found “jointly responsible” for the attack and convicted on charges of murder,
attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
Now, the inquiry has revealed new evidence that Hashem Abedi repeatedlyconsumed
and participated in the spread of ISIS propaganda
<[link removed]>
from his phone, including recruitment videos and literature, for several years
prior to the attack. Salman Abedi was also known to use Hashem’s phone.

 

The new details demonstrate the role online extremist content played in
radicalizing the brothers. Most infamously, Salman Abedi had reportedly viewed
an ISIS video with English subtitles on YouTube that offered step-by-step
instructions for building a homemade bomb with easily and legally acquirable
components. A report fromThe Telegraph
<[link removed]>
on September 28 found that the 13 minute clip was available on Telegram, the
Internet Archive, and a pro-ISIS website. On the Internet Archive, the video
was online for nearly three years and had been viewed thousands of times. It
was taken down after the non-profit website was notified of its existence byThe
Telegraph.

 

To address this issue, tech companies must effectively use hashing technology
to stop the bomb-making video and other known terrorist content from being
uploaded and reuploaded. The longer extremist content stays online, the longer
it can be consumed and shared by others. Further, larger companies have an
obligation to assist smaller companies to better achieve this goal. As Counter
Extremism Project (CEP) researcher Joshua Fisher-Birchstated
<[link removed]>
, “It is unacceptable that dangerous ISIS propaganda that contains instructions
for making explosives remains online.”

 

CEP has repeatedly located the reappearance of the ISIS bomb-making video
online since its release in November 2016. From November 2016 to January 2018,
it appeared on YouTube and other Google-owned platformsat least 11 times
<[link removed]>
. In April 2019, almosttwo-and-a-half years
<[link removed]>
after its original release, a pro-ISIS Telegram account shared a set of upload
links. The video was also active on: Myspace (video streaming), Vidio (an
Indonesian video streaming site), Mediafire (file download site), Anonfile
(file download site), Uppom (file download site), Megaup (file download site),
nofile.io (file download site), Zippyshare (file download site), and Zupload
(file download site).

 

###



Unsubscribe
<[link removed]>