Digital Disruption

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CEP is determined to end extremists’ misuse of social media platforms to spread terrorist propaganda, radicalize and recruit new members, and incite others to violence. CEP has launched a variety of initiatives to highlight the dangers of online extremist activities to counter this threat.

Social Media Company Campaigns

CEP was the first nongovernmental organization to formally call on social media companies, in particular Twitter, to take immediate action to stop extremists from weaponizing their networks.

CEP’s primary focus has been on Twitter due to its ‘gateway’ function into extremists’ wider social media networks. Vulnerable individuals are initially exposed to extremist content and extremist recruiters on Twitter’s easily accessible platform. Recruits are then invited to interact with jihadists on other message boards and private messaging platforms.

Anwar al-Awlaki Online

CEP is also concerned about the presence of radical American cleric and propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki’s content on social media, particularly YouTube, and his influence on homegrown extremists.

Speaking to the New York Times on December 18, 2015, CEP CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace expressed concern that al-Awlaki’s lectures and extremist videos have “inspired countless plots and attacks.” Enrique Marquez Jr. and Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2, 2015 San Bernardino massacre that killed 14, spent hours listening to al-Awlaki’s lectures and poring over directions on making explosives in the AQAP magazine al-Awlaki helped create, Inspire, according to the criminal complaint against Marquez. Al-Awlaki was directly in contact with Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan (2009) and underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (2009). Al-Awlaki inspired Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad (2010) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of the Boston Marathon bombings (2013).

There is a clear, direct link between al-Awlaki’s teachings and terror. Social media companies, especially YouTube, must take action to permanently remove all of al-Awlaki’s videos.

To view the profile of al-Awlaki on CEP’s Global Extremist Registry, click here.

To view Anwar al-Awlaki’s Ties to Extremists, click here.

To view the USA Today op-ed click here.

To view the Fox News op-ed, click here.

Fast Facts: Anwar al-Awlaki on YouTube

  • “Anwar al-Awlaki jihad” yielded 6,510 search results as of September 28, 2016.

  • “Anwar al-Awlaki” yielded 61,900 search results as of December 18, 2015, and then yielded 68,200 results as of September 28, 2016.

  • On the first page of hits based on a simple search for “Anwar al-Awlaki” reveals “Anwar al-Awlaki - Battle of The Hearts and Minds” (video), an hour-long polemic demonizing the United States.

  • YouTube’s features like search, autofill, and recommendations has served to expose users to al-Awlaki and his extremist content.

Twitter

#CEPDigitalDisruption

In October 2014, CEP launched #CEPDigitalDisruption to identify, expose, and report the profiles and accounts of extremists on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Ask.fm, and other social media networks. CEP monitors profiles in multiple languages, including English, Arabic, French, Italian, German, and Turkish.

Sign our petition to join CEP President Fran Townsend and CEP CEO Ambassador Mark Wallace as well as the CEP community in holding Twitter accountable.

Sign the Petition

CEP has proposed five specific steps for social media companies like Twitter to undertake:

    NOT YET COMPLETED
  • Trusted Reporting Status:

    Social media companies should grant trusted reporting status to government and groups like CEP to swiftly identify and ensure the expeditious removal of extremists online.

  • NOT YET COMPLETED
  • Streamlined Reporting:

    The reporting process online is long and cumbersome. A more accessible reporting protocol should be added for users to report suspected extremist activity.

  • COMPLETED
  • Clear, Public Policy on Extremism:

    America’s leading tech companies should adopt a policy statement that extremist activities will not be tolerated.

  • COMPLETED
  • Transparency:

    When one of the most influential and pro-ISIS Twitter accounts, ShamiWitness, was publicly revealed to be an Indian businessman it shook the cyber-jihadi network. He immediately stopped his online jihad. Twitter and other social media companies should reveal detailed information – including the names of the most egregious cyber-jihadis. The most egregious cyber-jihadis do not deserve an anonymous platform to from which to spew hate and incite terror and murder.

  • PARTIALLY COMPLETED
  • Proactive Content Monitoring:

    At this time, many social media sites only monitor and remove content that has been reported to them. Instead, each should spearhead internal efforts to find content and remove it without relying on the public to police the platform for them.

CEP U.S. Congressional Testimony

CEP’s CEO Ambassador Mark Wallace has testified before U.S. congressional committees on several occasions where he called on social media companies, especially Twitter, to combat online radicalization, recruitment, and incitement to violence.

Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, January 27, 2015 “The Evolution of Terrorist Propaganda: The Paris Attacks and Social Media”

For the full testimony, click here.

Testimony before the National Security Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 28, 2015 “Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism”

For the full full testimony, click here.

For the full video, click here.

CEP's Digital Disruption in the News

News

December 19, 2015

The FBI revealed in a criminal complaint this week that one of the San Bernardino shooters, the husband, Syed Rizwan Farooq, and an alleged co-conspirator who bought the couple’s assault rifles, were inspired by former al Qaeda leader Anwar Awlaki...

News

December 18, 2015

In case after terrorism case, from the Fort Hood, Tex., shootings to the Boston Marathon bombing and now to the slaughter in San Bernardino, Calif., the inflammatory videos and bomb-making instructions of Anwar al-Awlaki, easily accessible on the...

News

December 16, 2015

In a Washington Post op-ed, CEP CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace discusses the weaponization of social media by extremists and the challenges posed by encryption. “....combating the weaponization of social media platforms by extremist groups has become...

News

December 15, 2015

In a radio broadcast affiliated with the Islamic State, the couple responsible for Wednesday's mass shooting in San Bernardino were praised as supporters and martyrs. In yet another message, a known ISIS tweeter by the name of Jazrawi Daesh announced...

News

December 14, 2015

Activists and lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration and social media companies to do more to fight the Islamic State's use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as weapons of war. Mark Wallace, CEO of the Counter-Extremism Project, a private...

News

December 13, 2015

The New York-based Counter Extremism Project applauded Hassan's arrest, calling him a "prolific jihadi propagandist and recruiter" who "created a broad social-media presence on Twitter and other social media platforms to recruit and incite violence...

News

December 13, 2015

The former Minnesota man who left the USA years ago to join an al-Qaida affiliate, Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, denied he's a member of al-Shabab or the Islamic State in an interview with a news outlet. The New York-based Counter Extremism Project...

News

December 13, 2015

Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan faces specific charges of providing material support to terrorists; conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas; using a firearm in a crime of violence; and soliciting others to commit a crime of violence. The...

News

December 13, 2015

A former Minnesota resident, Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan joined al-Shabab in Somalia more than seven years ago and more recently went online to urge others to carry out violence on behalf of the Islamic State group, authorities said. The New York-based...

News

December 11, 2015

One of the most popular places for radicalization on the Internet is Twitter, where terrorists are very well-organized. Studies estimate there are at least 90,000 Twitter accounts operated by ISIS. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a nonprofit...

Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

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