Extremist Content Online: Extreme Right Storefront Removed Following CEP Report
(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, a web shop was found on the print-on-demand platform Spring selling merchandise featuring neo-Nazi and white supremacist iconography and slogans. On Telegram, a neo-Nazi accelerationist manual was released calling for attacks on power grids. Also on Telegram, a channel affiliated with a neo-Nazi website shared an image that encouraged violence against African Americans and Black individuals. And on a different Telegram channel affiliated with the neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club, there were photos posted of members distributing food, toiletries and antisemitic flyers in Boston.
On Twitter, Facebook and Telegram, CEP researchers located different accounts, pages and a channel for the pro-ISIS news propaganda group Moata Agency. Finally, nine pro-ISIS or pro-al-Qaeda manuals on explosives or toxins were discovered on the Internet Archive.
Spring Shuts Down Neo-Nazi Clothing Store
On May 31, CEP researchers located a shop on the print-on-demand platform Spring (formerly Teespring) selling merchandise featuring a variety of neo-Nazi and white supremacist iconography and slogans. According to links found in an affiliated Telegram channel with over 2,800 subscribers, the store had been active since September 1, 2021. Spring quickly removed the web store after CEP reported it.
Neo-Nazi Accelerationist Manual Released
On June 1, unknown individuals released a 14-page neo-Nazi accelerationist manual on Telegram. The guide, made in the style of Telegram “Terrorgram” channels, stated that mass shootings like the May 14 Buffalo attack are not productive in bringing about societal collapse and that instead, it was necessary to attack the power grid. Referencing the 2013 Metcalf Sniper Attack, where unknown individuals destroyed 17 electrical transformers in California with rifles, the manual advised taking similar actions against electrical infrastructure near cities to cause maximum chaos. The guide also encouraged attacks on Jewish organizations and advocated for targeted assassinations against government officials and their families, stating that brutal home invasion murders would spread terror.
At least eight Telegram channels posted the PDF of the manual. The manual was also posted on Mega.Nz, who removed it immediately after CEP reported it. The guide was also posted on 4chan on June 2, where it had over 330 comments in approximately five hours. Of the first 50 comments excluding those made by the original poster, 24 (48 percent) supported the guide, 15 (30 percent) explicitly disagreed with it, and 11 (22 percent) were neutral, did not address the issue, or made off-topic comments.
Telegram Channel Affiliated With Neo-Nazi Website Advocates for Violence Against African Americans
On June 1, a Telegram channel affiliated with a neo-Nazi website shared an image encouraging acts of violence against African Americans and Black people. The image featured a modified photo of a soldier standing next to a killed and possibly mutilated person allegedly from an Apartheid-era South African military operation in 1978. The website seeks to spread the work of James Mason and endorses the group National Socialist Order (NSO). In addition to content from Mason, the site contains writing from former members of the Atomwaffen Division and current members of the NSO and lists members from the former as “prisoners of war.” The Telegram channel has over 800 subscribers. Two prior versions of the channel have been removed from Telegram.
New England Neo-Nazi Group Posts Propaganda Distributing Food, Toiletries, Antisemitic Flyers
On June 2, Telegram and Gab channels affiliated with the neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club (NSC) posted photos of their members distributing food, toiletries, and antisemitic flyers in part of Boston, known as the focal point for opioid addiction and homelessness in the city. The flyers blame Jews for the opioid epidemic and state that it is proof of “white genocide.”
Accounts for Pro-ISIS Media Group Located on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram
CEP researchers located two Twitter accounts, a Facebook page, and a Telegram channel for the pro-ISIS news propaganda group Moata Agency. Both Twitter accounts are believed to have been created on May 31, and the Facebook page, which had over 700 followers, was created on May 20. The accounts posted information from the ISIS Amaq News Agency, infographics that celebrated casualties inflicted by ISIS in Iraq, and photos of individuals allegedly killed by ISIS. CEP reported all four accounts to their respective platforms on June 2. Within four days, the respective platforms removed all four accounts.
Pro-ISIS Explosives Manuals Located on the Internet Archive
On June 1, CEP researchers located nine text-based pieces of content on the Internet Archive related to the production of explosives and bomb components, the use of explosives and toxins, or accelerants to commit arson. Five items, including a guide for making suicide explosive vests, were made by the pro-ISIS online group al-Saqri Foundation for Military Sciences. One upload, a book on creating and using explosives, was made by a pro-al-Qaeda internet-based group. The Internet Archive removed eight pieces of content after CEP reported it, including all information related to explosives and arson. One piece of content, concerning the use of toxins, was made accessible to logged in Internet Archive users only.
