CEP is calling on YouTube to take action immediately and remove all videos of radical American cleric and propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki from its platform. CEP is very concerned about the continuing presence of al-Awlaki on social media, particularly YouTube, and his influence on homegrown extremists. YouTube and other social media companies must take concrete measures to combat al-Awlaki’s deadly influence.
Al-Awlaki’s lectures online have continued to inspire Westerners to terror, both before and after his death. Al-Awlaki reportedly inspired Orlando shooter Omar Mateen (2016), Syed Rizwan Farook of the San Bernardino massacre (2015), Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad (2010), and, among others, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of the Boston Marathon bombings (2013). Al-Awlaki was also in close contact with Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan (2009), underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (2009), and thwarted suicide bomber Minh Quang Pham (2012). To learn more about al-Awlaki’s radicalizing influence on American and European extremists, click here.
Help us demand action from YouTube. Please sign the petition and join the CEP community in holding YouTube accountable. Together, we can send a message that al-Awlaki’s content is dangerous and demand that YouTube take action to disrupt his continuing influence.