Eye on Extremism
December 5, 2022
Reuters: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Attack On Pakistani Embassy In Kabul
“Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistan's embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, via a statement carried by one of the militant group's affiliated channels on Telegram on Sunday. The embassy came under attack on Friday and a Pakistani security guard was wounded by gunfire in what Islamabad called an attempt to assassinate its head of mission, who was unhurt. Islamic State claimed the attack was carried out by two of its members armed with “medium and sniper weapons” and was targeting the ambassador and his guards who were present in the courtyard of the embassy. Taliban authorities have said they are investigating the attack and that the embassy compound was targeted by gunfire from a nearby building. Police said they had arrested one suspect and recovered two firearms. The attack injured at least one guard and caused damage to the building, the Islamic State said. Pakistan's foreign office said it had seen the reports of IS's claim of responsibility. “Independently and in consultation with the Afghan authorities, we are verifying the veracity of these reports,” it said in a statement, adding the attack was a reminder of the risk militant activity posed to the region. “We must act resolutely with all our collective might to defeat this menace,” the foreign office said.”
Associated Press: Antisemitic Celebrities Stoke Fears Of Normalizing Hate
“A surge of anti-Jewish vitriol, spread by a world-famous rapper, an NBA star and other prominent people, is stoking fears that public figures are normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence in a country already experiencing a sharp increase in antisemitism. Leaders of the Jewish community in the U.S. and extremism experts have been alarmed to see celebrities with massive followings spew antisemitic tropes in a way that has been taboo for decades. Some said it harkens back to a darker time in America when powerful people routinely spread conspiracy theories about Jews with impunity. Former President Donald Trump hosted a Holocaust-denying white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago. The rapper Ye expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview. Basketball star Kyrie Irving appeared to promote an antisemitic film on social media. Neo-Nazi trolls are clamoring to return to Twitter as new CEO Elon Musk grants “amnesty” to suspended accounts. “These are not fringe outliers sending emails from their parents garage or idiots no one has ever heard of. When influential mainstream cultural, political and even sports icons normalize hate speech, everyone needs to be very concerned,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, a leader in South Florida’s Jewish community.”
Syria
NBC News: Syrian Rebels Say Anti-ISIS Operations With The U.S. Have Stopped And ISIS Fighters May Escape From Prisons And A Refugee Camp
“The main rebel group in Syria says its joint military operations with the U.S. against the Islamic State terrorist group have stopped because of the threat of a Turkish ground offensive and airstrikes, and it is concerned ISIS prisoners may escape from the detention facilities where thousands are held. On Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said that the anti-ISIS mission in Syria was ongoing. “We do continue to conduct partnered patrols with the SDF at a reduced number, based on their request to go to a reduced number,” he said, using the abbreviation for the Syrian Democratic Forces. But Friday a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said, “As a result of the SDF’s pause on all counter-ISIS operations, CENTCOM forces have also paused all partnered operations against ISIS in Syria.” The spokesperson said that “patrols at the al-Hol Internally Displaced Persons Camp and detention facilities continue,” but those are generally instances of U.S. forces driving around the facilities while en route to meetings. The commander of the SDF, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, said his group has intelligence that the Turks are building up forces to prepare for a ground offensive, and warned that all of northern Syria, which shares a border with Turkey, is in danger. “There will be a war on all the border,” he told NBC News. The SDF is tracking new movements of ISIS cells and is concerned a Turkish ground offensive will endanger the security of ISIS detention facilities and refugee camps in Syria, Mazloum said.”
AFP: US Warns Turkey Against Disrupting Anti-ISIS Mission In Syria
“The United States on Friday warned Turkey not to disrupt operations by US and Kurdish forces against terrorists in Syria, while acknowledging Ankara’s security concerns in the volatile region. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Turkish bombing of Kurdish-controlled areas in northeast Syria continues. The Turkish government says it is taking military action in response to a terrorist attack in Istanbul that it blames on Kurdish groups. The Kurds deny responsibility. “They continue to conduct airstrikes,” Kirby said, adding there was no evidence yet of a threatened ground operation across the Turkish-Syrian border, where US troops deploy alongside the Kurdish-led SDF force. Kirby said that while “Turkey does have a right to defend itself,” the operations carry a heavy risk. “We recognize their legitimate security concerns to defend themselves,” he said. “What we don’t want to see are operations in Syria that, again, could cause civilian casualties, could cause casualties of our personnel and could distract our SDF partners from a very real and very important mission ongoing against ISIS,” he added. Washington does not “want to see anything that would affect our ability to continue to put the pressure” on ISIS, Kirby said.”
AFP: IS 'Brand' Survives Leader's Death
“…The new self-proclaimed caliph seeks to draw legitimacy by claiming heritage from the prophet's Quraysh tribe — as did all IS leaders before him. “The Qurashi name is used as a branding for the leader,” Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter-Extremism Project think tank, told AFP. “Even if it is just a made-up name... it is sufficient for the network to function.” After a meteoric rise in Iraq and Syria in 2014, IS saw its so-called caliphate collapse, reduced to a network of sleeper cells. In 2019 it was defeated in Syria — where Hashimi was said to have been killed in October by local fighters. “Syria is simply not a safe haven for ISIS anymore,” said Schindler. “They can maintain a cell structure, but it is apparently not safe for high-ranking personnel there. “If you are killing everyone, in the end, no one is your ally anymore,” the expert said. Left without a sanctuary or charismatic leader, IS has lost the capacity it had under founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to recruit foreigners. And Baghdadi's successors last for increasingly shorter periods, with the last two leaders perishing without having issued any audio or video statements. “There is likely pressure building on ISIS... to gain some momentum, particularly if the group wants to remain relevant,” said Clarke of Soufan Group.”
Iraq
Associated Press: UN: Iraq Christians Were Victims Of Islamic State War Crimes
“Evidence collected in Iraq strengthens preliminary findings that Islamic State extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014, a U.N. investigative team said in a report circulated Thursday. The report to the U.N. Security Council said crimes included forcibly transferring and persecuting Christians, seizing their property, engaging in sexual violence, enslavement and other “inhumane acts,” such as forced conversions and destruction of cultural and religious sites. In addition, the team said it has identified leaders and prominent members of the Islamic State extremist group who participated in the attack and takeover of three predominantly Christian towns in the Nineveh plains north of Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, in July and August 2014 -- Hamdaniyah, Karamlays and Bartella. It also started collecting evidence on crimes committed against the Christian community in Mosul. Islamic State fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was formally declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells continue to stage attacks in different parts of Iraq.”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: US Names 4 Militants In Afghanistan, Pakistan 'Terrorists'
“The United States has added four top Islamic militants operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan to its list of “global terrorists,” amid a resurgence of violence and border tensions in the area. The militant leaders hail from the Pakistani Taliban and an al-Qaida branch in South Asia. Both militant groups operate from Afghanistan, but they have hideouts in Pakistan's mountainous northwest and elsewhere as well. The State Department's announcement on Thursday comes days after Pakistan's Taliban movement, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, ended a monthslong ceasefire with Pakistan and resumed attacks across the country. Amid threats from the militants, Pakistan's Interior Ministry tightened security in public places and mosques on Friday. The TTP has asked its fighters to target security forces across the country. The militant group was behind the 2014 attack on a Peshawar school that killed 147 people, mostly schoolchildren. The State Department said the terrorist designation of the militants would trigger sanctions against the four militant commanders who are from the TTP and al-Qaida's South Asian branch. The statement read that the U.S. was targeting the “threat posed by terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan, including al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).” The U.S. would move to prevent militants from using Afghanistan as “a platform for international terrorism,” it added.”
Pakistan
Reuters: Ambush Claimed By Pakistani Taliban Kills Three Police Officers In Northern Pakistan
“The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun ambush that killed three police officers in northern Pakistan, the second attack claimed by the group just days after it announced an end to a cease-fire with the government. Police carrying out a patrol in Nowshera, a district of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, came under fire on Saturday evening, a regional police deputy inspector, Mohammad Ali Gandapur, told Reuters. He said three police officers were killed and the identity of the attackers was unknown. The militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. On Monday, the TTP announced an end to a months-long cease-fire, claiming a suicide attack in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta two days later that killed four people and wounded more than 30. The TTP wants to overthrow Pakistan's government and replace it with a governance system that subscribes to their own harsh interpretation of Islamic laws. The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year. In recent months, the Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along the Afghan border.”
Middle East
AFP: Gaza Militants Fire Rocket Into Israel Amid West Bank Unrest
“Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza into Israel Saturday without causing any casualties, the army said, as a surge in violence grips the occupied West Bank. There was no immediate claim for the attack, the first in a month according to the army. However, one of Gaza's larger armed factions, Islamic Jihad, had threatened to retaliate after Israeli troops killed two of its leaders in the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday. Witnesses said the Israeli army swiftly riposted by firing on two observation posts east of Gaza City, operated by the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas. The rocket attack came as a surge in bloodshed in the occupied West Bank sparked international criticism of the Israeli army for its use of lethal force against Palestinian civilians. Criticism has focused on the killing of Ammar Hadi Mufleh, 22, in disputed circumstances in the town of Huwara, just south of Nablus, on Friday. United Nations Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland said he was “horrified” by the killing “during a scuffle with an Israeli soldier”. The European Union said it was “greatly concerned about the increasing level of violence” which had seen 10 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in recent days. “Such unacceptable facts must be investigated and there must be full accountability,” EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borell said.”
The Jerusalem Post: Israeli Forces Arrest 7 Terror Suspects In West Bank
“Seven wanted men were arrested in the Judea and Samaria region late Saturday night in a joint mission by the IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police. Operating in Ein Kiniyye, Dayr 'Amr and Beit Furik, security forces arrested a number of men wanted in regard to security concerns. Two people were also arrested in the Binyamin region, another two were arrested in the Yehuda region, and a third pair was arrested in the area where the Etzion Brigade operates. In the Nablus Casbah, a vehicle suspected of carrying out an attempted shooting attack on a military post near the Jit junction last Wednesday was located and confiscated. Two additional suspects who were thought to have participated in “terrorist activities,” according to the IDF, were arrested in the Binyamin region. During the operation, a suspicious vehicle drove full speed at the security forces, who shot at the vehicle, injuring and arresting the driver per suspect arrest procedure. A similar incident occurred a short while later, as well. There were no casualties to Israel's security forces. The arrested wanted persons were transferred for further investigation by the security forces. The arrests were carried out as part of Operation Break the Wave, an ongoing operation to arrest terror suspects to prevent potential atrocities.”
Outlook India: Israel Hits Gaza With Missiles After Palestinian Rocket Firing, Why Israel-Palestine Tensions Are Rising?
“…The group’s [Hamas] ideology blends Islamism and Palestinian nationalism and seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River...PIJ is dedicated to eradicating Israel and establishing an autonomous Islamic Palestinian state in the lands currently comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza....Accordingly, PIJ refuses to negotiate with Israel, rejects a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and carries out numerous terror attacks against Israeli targets and interests,” says think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP). The employment of rockets by Hamas and PIJ puts disproportionate strain on Israel as while their rockets are dirt-cheap, the Iron Dome missiles fired by Israel are very expensive. Over the last decade, Gazan rockets have improved their range and production. Their affordability means that Israel employs disproportionate force to counter them. Moreover, since it's harder for Israel to replenish its Iron Dome missiles, if an overwhelming number of Gazan rockets are fired at very short intervals, then the Iron Dome system can get overwhelmed and run out of missiles. Though such a situation has not yet arisen. “In 2008-2009, Hamas could only strike communities bordering Gaza, a range of 20 km to 50 km.”
Nigeria
AFP: Gunmen Kidnap Worshippers In Nigeria Mosque Attack
“Gunmen abducted 19 Muslim worshippers after attacking a mosque in the restive northwest of Nigeria, police said Sunday. The attackers stormed the mosque in Maigamji village, in Katsina state, during evening prayers Saturday and carried out the kidnappings after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshipper, said local police spokesman Gambo Isah. “Our men mobilized and went after the bandits and succeeded in rescuing six of the worshippers from their abductors, while efforts are underway to free the remaining 13,” he added. The two people wounded were being treated in the hospital, he added. Northwest and central Nigeria have been terrorized by criminal gangs locally known as bandits, who village raids steal cattle, kidnap for ransom and burn homes after looting supplies. Hostages are usually released after a ransom is paid to the gangs, which take refuge in the vast Rugu Forest. It straddles four states in northwest Nigeria, including Katsina. Last month, 15 people were killed and several others wounded in a series of bandit attacks on villages in neighboring Kaduna state, say the authorities. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been under intense pressure to end the violence before he leaves office next year at the end of his eight-year tenure in office.”
Sahara Reporters: Nigerian Army Say Troops Killed Boko Haram Terrorists In Borno, Recovered Gun Trucks, Weapons
“The Nigerian Army has said troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised some members of the deadly Boko Haram/Islamic State West African Province terrorist group. This was made known in a statement on the official Twitter account of the Nigerian Army on Friday. According to the Army, the terrorists were neutralised after aggressive clearance operations around Wajiroko-Damboa Road in Borno State. Items recovered from the militants include gun trucks, arms and ammunition. “In sustained operations to clear the North East of terrorism, Troops of Operation Hadin Kai with close air support on 1 December 2022 have again neutralized several ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists around Wajiroko-Damboa road in Borno State. Troops also recovered weapons & gun trucks,” it posted.”
Daily Post Nigeria: Many ISWAP Fighters Killed In Damboa After Pledging Allegiance To New ISIS Leader
“Many Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists have been eliminated by troops of 25 Task Brigade, Operation Hadin Kai in Damboa area, Borno State, northeast Nigeria. The terrorists who had launched a failed attack some hours after pledging their allegiance to the new ISIS “caliph” Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi, met their waterloo in the hands of the Nigerian troops. It was gathered that unspecified numbers of the terrorists attacked Wajiroko town in two phantom MRAPs and six Hilux trucks mounted with Anti Aircraft Guns. DAILY POST learnt that their attack proceeded multiple mortar bombs they fired from Gubub axis of the town on the military location in Damboa. “The resilient troops, however, stood their grounds and engaged the terrorists in a heavy gun battle which lasted for about 40 minutes. “The terrorists were eventually forced to flee the scene after suffering some fatalities. “Unknown to the fleeing terrorists, a reinforcement of troops from Sabon Gari and Damboa led by Brig Gen BO Omopariola, the Brigade Commander 25 Brigade, had already staged an ambush against their escaped route. “The ambush paid off as the troops neutrialized scores of the terrorists and destroyed two gun trucks conveying many fighters.”
Somalia
Voice Of America: Somali Military Liberates 4 Strategic Villages From Al-Shabab Militants
“Somalia’s defense ministry says the country’s national army, supported by local clan militias, has seized control of several strategic villages from al-Shabab Islamist militants. The ministry acknowledged that several security personnel were wounded during the army’s recent operations. Abdullahi Ali Anod, Somalia’s defense ministry spokesman who talked with reporters Saturday in the country’s capital Mogadishu, said the army, backed by locals, has captured four strategic villages from the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The liberated villages are Gulane, Darusalam, Harga-Dhere and Mabah, located in the Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions. Mabah is the last village in eastern Hiran that was under control of al-Shabab, according to Somali state-run news agency Sonna. Anod said six al-Shabab fighters were killed in the middle Shabelle region, while 10 were killed during a firefight between the army and the group that took place in the Hiran region. He acknowledged that three government soldiers were wounded during the recent operations; adding that they have liberated more than 80 kilometers from al-Shabab. He said two of the three soldiers wounded have serious injuries.”
Africa
Vice: ‘We Need To Wake Up’: How ISIS Made Africa Its Second Home
“The terror alert was as specific as it was alarming. In the upcoming weekend in one of Johannesburg's wealthiest areas, terrorists were planning an attack on large gatherings, the alert from the US, the UK and others said. The unexpected warning shocked people in South Africa. The South African government too, scrambling, issued advisories of its own and flooded the streets with police officers. That alert was for the 29th of October. In the end, thick as the tension was, no attack happened and details of the threat's nature are virtually non-existent, with US and South African authorities giving little away. But experts have told VICE World News that information in the alert indicated something serious and that all fingers point to an unlikely-sounding perpetrator in South Africa: ISIS. The US must have had “solid evidence” of an attack, said Martin Ewi, a lead analyst with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). Vague as it was, the warning included disturbing details. “This was one of the most precise alerts; they told you when and where the attack was going to happen,” Ewi said. “Very few alerts have those kinds of details.” In a dramatic turn of events, South African authorities first downplayed the threat, then they accused the US of hoarding intelligence and being too forward, before turning around again to say the US blew up weeks of undercover work, although this is uncorroborated. But even as the country went into panic mode, analysts said it was already infiltrated.”
Australia
AFP: Islamic State Suspect Extradited To Australia, Charged With Terror-Related Offenses
“Australian police charged a high-profile Islamic State suspect with six terrorism-related offenses Sunday, two days after he was extradited from Turkey, officials said. Neil Christopher Prakash, 31, was accused of offenses including engaging in hostile activity overseas, supporting a terrorist organization, and advocating terrorism, police said. He was charged in Melbourne by a counter-terrorism team after landing in Australia on Friday following his extradition, federal police said in a statement. The allegations carry maximum penalties ranging from five years to life imprisonment. Police released a video that showed officers in black balaclavas at Melbourne airport removing Prakash from a plane and escorting him across the tarmac to a waiting car. Prakash was arrested in Turkey in 2016 after crossing into the country from Syria. He was sentenced in 2019 to seven years in prison by a Turkish court, which found him guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization. Prakash was stripped of his Australian citizenship in 2018. Police have worked “tirelessly” to bring him before the courts, said Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Sandra Booth. Authorities estimate about 230 Australians have traveled to Iraq and Syria to take up arms since 2012 — Prakash being one of the most prominent examples.”
Europe
Reuters: Sweden Deports Man With Alleged Ties To Kurdish Militant Group
“Sweden on Friday deported a Kurdish man with alleged links to Kurdish militant group the PKK, a government minister told Swedish Television, as Ankara keeps up pressure on the Nordic country to meet its demands in return for NATO membership. Mahmut Tat had sought asylum in Sweden in 2015 after being sentenced in Turkey for six years and 10 months for alleged links to the PKK. His final asylum application was denied last year by the Swedish Migration Agency. Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard did not reply to requests for comment but told SVT that the government had played no part in the decision. “It is about a deportation case where an individual has had his asylum application rejected,” she told SVT. “The government has no role in ruling on asylum applications.” Turkish state television TRT said Tat was sent to an Istanbul prison on Saturday. Swedish authorities were not immediately available for comment. Sweden and Finland applied in May to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but ran into objections from Turkey, which accused the two countries of harbouring militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other groups.”
The Guardian: Trial Of 10 Accused In 2016 Brussels Terror Attack Begins On Monday
“Ten men will go on trial accused of playing a role in the Brussels terror attacks of 2016 that killed 32 people and injured hundreds in what was Belgium’s worst peacetime atrocity. The trial, taking place in a specially constructed court in Nato’s former headquarters in the north of the Belgian capital, begins proceedings on Monday, more than six and a half years after the attacks on Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station on 22 March 2016. The 10 accused include Salah Abdeslam, who last year was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison in separate legal proceedings for his role in the Paris attacks of 2015, which killed 130 people and injured more than 490. Abdeslam is among five of the accused who have been convicted in France over the Paris attacks. Also in the dock in Belgium is Mohamed Abrini, who is alleged to be the “man in the hat” caught on camera with two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in the attack on Brussels airport. Prosecutors say Abrini left a bomb in the departure hall and fled the scene. Police and rescue teams outside the Maelbeek metro station after the 2016 attacks. Abrini, who admitted driving bombers to the scene of the Paris attacks, was last year sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 22 years for his role in the shootings in the French capital.”
Technology
The New York Times: Hate Speech’s Rise On Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find
“Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, slurs against Black Americans showed up on the social media service an average of 1,282 times a day. After the billionaire became Twitter’s owner, they jumped to 3,876 times a day. Slurs against gay men appeared on Twitter 2,506 times a day on average before Mr. Musk took over. Afterward, their use rose to 3,964 times a day. And antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism soared more than 61 percent in the two weeks after Mr. Musk acquired the site. These findings — from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that study online platforms — provide the most comprehensive picture to date of how conversations on Twitter have changed since Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion deal for the company in late October. While the numbers are relatively small, researchers said the increases were atypically high. The shift in speech is just the tip of a set of changes on the service under Mr. Musk. Accounts that Twitter used to regularly remove — such as those that identify as part of the Islamic State, which were banned after the U.S. government classified ISIS as a terror group — have come roaring back. Accounts associated with QAnon, a vast far-right conspiracy theory, have paid for and received verified status on Twitter, giving them a sheen of legitimacy.”
The Wall Street Journal: Kanye West Suspended From Twitter After Swastika Tweet
“Twitter Inc. again suspended Kanye West’s account after the musician and designer posted a swastika in a tweet that the social-media platform’s owner, Elon Musk, said violated its rules. Mr. West, who now legally goes by Ye and had recently returned from a previous Twitter suspension, on Thursday posted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David. Asked on Twitter by a user to “fix Kanye please,” Mr. Musk replied: “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.” Mr. West’s account then began displaying a message saying it was suspended, with no tweets visible. Mr. West later posted on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump’s social-media platform, a screenshot showing a text conversation purportedly between Mr. Musk and him. The screenshot showed him asking Mr. Musk, “Who made you the judge,” and Mr. Musk replying with the beginning of the “Our Father” prayer. The screenshot also included the suspension notification that Mr. West received from Twitter, saying his account would return to full functionality in less than 12 hours. Mr. West, Mr. Musk and Twitter couldn’t be reached for comment. Mr. Musk has described himself as a free-speech absolutist and has said Twitter generally should intervene only to comply with local laws.”
Homeland Security Today: TamTam Deletes Channels Promoting Neo-Nazi Accelerationism And Terror
“Following a report by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), TamTam, a Russia-based messenger platform, has removed 18 channels endorsing neo-Nazi accelerationism and acts of terrorism. The channels posted bomb-making instructions and encouraged other activities meant to create “a climate of anxiety” and fear. CEP reported the channels to the communications app, citing the platform’s regulations that prohibit users from promoting and calling “for violence and cruelty, committing suicide and other illegal and immoral acts,” and promoting “extremism (or) terrorism” related to “ethnical or national identity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious opinions, age, limited physical or mental abilities or diseases.” The successful effort with TamTam follows CEP’s success in preventing sales of a neo-Nazi edition of the infamous antisemitic book The International Jew by Barnes & Noble. The channels removed by TamTam posted guides on how to make explosives, the manifestos of several white supremacist mass shooters; videos from several neo-Nazi groups including the Atomwaffen Division, the National Socialist Order, The Base, and Feuerkrieg Division; a recently released propaganda video that encourages acts of terrorism and praises individuals who have committed acts of white supremacist violence; and a neo-Nazi accelerationist book that calls for lone actor violence, workplace violence, attacks on infrastructure, law enforcement, politicians, people of color, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The book also includes information on making homemade bombs, conducting surveillance, and other information helpful in committing attacks.”
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