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CEP Web Events Roundup
Contemporary Analysis from the Counter Extremism Project
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has conducted more than 10 web events in 2021 as part of its mission to inform the public, media, academia, business leaders, and policymakers about the dangers posed by extremist ideologies and movements, as well as their recruitment and operational tactics. Highlights of these events may be viewed here.
Tech & Terrorism
On Wednesday, June 30, CEP hosted the first in a series of webinars with Dr. Hany Farid, senior advisor to CEP, and a professor at UC Berkeley. Dr. Farid was joined by German MEP Tiemo Wölken, the coordinator for the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) at the European Parliament, and Prabhat Agarwal, the head of the Digital Services and Platforms Unit for DG Connect at the European Commission. Speakers explored the nature and extent of the global phenomenon of misinformation, the role of algorithmic amplification in spreading it, the consequences, and possible technological and regulatory interventions for stopping it, including the upcoming EU Digital Services Act. Dr. Hany Farid said: “Algorithmic amplification is the root cause of the unprecedented dissemination of hate speech, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and harmful content online. Platforms have learned that divisive content attracts the highest number of users and as such, the real power lies with these recommendation algorithms. Until thorough regulation is put in place, controversial content will continue to be promoted and amplified online.” Dr. Farid has also previously explained how to combat fake news.
The New EU Digital Services Act (DSA) – Will Social Media Users Be Safer in The Future?
The draft Digital Services Act (DSA), published by the EU Commission in December 2020, seeks to build a safer and better Internet for all EU citizens. Unfortunately, despite introducing some promising new elements like transparency and auditing requirements, the draft potentially falls short of its main objective. The tech industry has lauded the proposed legislation’s continuation of its limited liability privilege, which essentially allows companies to moderate harmful and illegal user content any way they deem fit without being liable. The proposed compliance and content moderation framework lacks procedural clarity and ignores major lessons learned from the German NetzDG law as well as from (failed) auditing/compliance systems from the financial sector. Research has shown that the harmful effects of many social media and video sharing platforms, particularly hate speech and illegal (terrorist) content, are systemic, rather than the unintended consequences of an otherwise healthy business model. On June 1, CEP, in conjunction with Das NETTZ, (networking initiative against hate speech, betterplace lab), conducted a webinar where a distinguished panel of experts examined in-depth the positive and negative aspects of the draft DSA and discussed whether the legislation was capable of protecting EU citizens better from online harms.
Roundtable with Lord Walney: Disinformation, Conspiracy Theories, and Solutions Without Censorship
On May 4, CEP conducted a webinar entitled Disinformation, Conspiracy Theories, and Solutions Without Censorship, featuring Lord Walney, John Woodcock, who was appointed as HM Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption. Lord Walney, along with a distinguished group of speakers that included Dr. David Jeffery, lecturer on British politics, populism, and local government at Liverpool University; Aaron Sibarium, reporter at the Washington Free Beacon; Naama Kates, host of critically acclaimed INCEL podcast; and Liam Duffy, London-based CEP advisor, explored the debate surrounding disinformation and conspiracy theories.
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Watch Highlights From Recent CEP Webinars
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Islamist Extremism
Western Foreign Fighters and the Yazidi Genocide
In August 2014, ISIS attacked Sinjar, home to Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority. More than 3,000 Yazidis are estimated to have been killed, many in mass executions, while almost 7,000 Yazidi women and children were kidnapped and kept as slaves throughout ISIS’s self-declared caliphate. Justice for the crimes has never occurred. On March 16, CEP conducted a webinar to discuss the Yazidi genocide and launched its new report, Western Foreign Fighters and the Yazidi Genocide, authored by London-based CEP Strategic Advisor Liam Duffy. Using archived social media activity, interviews with captured or stranded foreign fighters, and first-hand testimonies, the report collates evidence of Western foreign fighters’ extensive involvement in the atrocities committed by ISIS against Iraq’s marginalized Yazidi minority. Media coverage: The Spectator, Le Vie, The National, and La Libre.
The Current Threat Posed by ISIS Globally and European Threat Assessment
On March 11, CEP conducted a webinar focused on the current status, capacities, and capabilities of ISIS globally and in Europe, including Germany. Despite restrictions imposed by COVID-19, ISIS supporters were able to carry out a string of attacks in France throughout 2020 and an attack in Vienna, Austria, on November 2, 2020, which killed two and injured 23. On February 12, 2021, in Denmark and Germany, 14 members belonging to an ISIS-connected network were arrested while preparing bomb attacks. Featured speakers at the webinar included: Ambassador Edmund Fitton-Brown, the Coordinator of the ISIL, al-Qaida and Taliban Monitoring Team, advising the United Nations Security Council on the threat posed by these organizations and on the development of global counter-terrorism sanctions; and Dr. Guido Steinberg, a leading German terrorism analyst at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) who advises the German government on security and terrorism related issues.
HELP US ENHANCE AWARENESS & UNDERSTANDING OF CRITICAL THREATS
Atmospheric Jihadism and The New Middle East Fault Lines – The Next Generation of Terror
Dr. Gilles Kepel, author of more than 20 books on contemporary Islam, the Arab World, and Muslims in Europe, was the featured presenter at CEP’s April 28 webinar, Atmospheric Jihadism and The New Middle East Fault Lines – The Next Generation of Terror. Dr. Kepel discussed his most recent book of essays, The Prophet and the Pandemic / From the Middle East to Atmosphere Jihadism, as well as Jihadism in general and recent developments in the Middle East. Dr. Kepel is a tenured professor at Paris Sciences et Lettres University and chairs the Middle East and Mediterranean Excellence Program at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris. His book of essays was recently released in French, topping the best-seller lists, and is now being translated into English and six other languages. An excerpt from the essay, The Murder of Samuel Paty, was published in the spring issue of Liberties Journal.
Opening the Black Box – Inside France’s Deradicalization Program
France has been a frequent target of Islamist terrorism both within and outside its borders for decades, and the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty near Paris in 2020 is but only one grisly example. Traditionally focusing on security measures to counter this threat, France has only started to establish prevention programs. Dr. Marc Hecker’s study “Once a Jihadist, Always a Jihadist? A Deradicalization Program Seen from the Inside” provided the first comprehensive insights into the program PAIRS, in existence since 2018. The study, based on an extensive field survey of staff, participants, provided a nuanced assessment of the program’s disengagement and deradicalization efforts. In a March 29 webinar conducted by CEP, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), the study’s results and implications for French and German prevention efforts were discussed in detail. Media Coverage: The National.
Black Flags of the Caribbean – How Trinidad Became an ISIS Hotspot
On March 31, CEP hosted a webinar and book discussion with Dr. Simon Cottee, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent and author of the recently published Black Flags of the Caribbean – How Trinidad Became an ISIS Hotspot. Dr. Cottee’s work analyzes how and why ISIS came to amass such an unlikely, yet significant foothold in Trinidad. On a per-capita basis, Trinidad was one of the largest providers of volunteers for the caliphate. By 2017, over 240 Trinidadian nationals (population 1.3 million) had traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. Another unusual element was the high proportion of female Trinidadians recruited by ISIS. Of 70 foreign fighters analyzed by Dr. Cottee, 40 percent of the adults were women. This places Trinidad at the top of the list of Western countries for female ISIS migrants.
Far-Right Extremism
The Threat Posed by Transnational Violent Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism in Europe and the United States
The violent right-wing extremist and terrorist milieu in the United States and Europe has developed a distinctly transnational character in its activities and therefore presents an increasing security threat on both sides of the Atlantic. In November 2020, CEP released its report, Violent Right-Wing Extremism – Transnational Connectivity, Definitions, Incidents, Structures and Countermeasures, commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office. The report, also available in German, focuses on the rise and metastasis of the violent extreme right-wing (XRW) threat and analyzes its growing transnational connectivity between 2015-2020 in Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. CEP hosted a series of webinars dedicated to sections of the report. The first webinar concerned the current threat landscape and provided an overview and the main findings of the report, while a webinar on January 18 was dedicated to the situation in France and Germany. The February 9 webinar was focused on the challenges facing the United Kingdom and the United States, while the fourth webinar on March 4 highlighted the risk environment in Finland and Sweden. Media coverage: The New York Times, Lawfare, and Homeland Security News Wire.
Extremism Meets Paramilitarism in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe
On April 20, CEP conducted a webinar focused on an in-depth examination of contemporary right-wing networks in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, including in the Balkans, featuring three eminent experts located in the region. Presentations focused on the links between extremists in Europe with organizations in “the East,” including Russian networks, and examined the phenomenon of right-wing extremists traveling eastward, specifically to receive paramilitary training. Additionally, experts discussed the extent to which activities like travel and training are sources of revenue for the Eastern transnational violent extreme right, in addition to music production and festivals, mixed martial art events, the sale of merchandise, donations, and criminal activities. On June 30, CEP published a new report, Looks Can Be Deceiving: Extremism Meets Paramilitarism In Central And Eastern Europe. Authored by CEP affiliated researcher Kacper Rekawek, the report examines case studies from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine and outlines potential security risks as well as avenues to mitigate threats associated with extremism in paramilitary groups throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
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