(New York, N.Y.) — The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists and terrorist groups on the Internet to spread propaganda and incite violence. Last week, Terrorgram-affiliated Telegram channels posted content related to a knife attack in Eskisehir, Turkey, including the translated manifesto of the perpetrator. The attacker praised the March 2019 Christchurch attacker and copied several aspects of his massacre, including targeting people near a mosque, live-streaming his attack, and wearing a neo-Nazi black sun patch.
Also, on Telegram, CEP researchers located and reported a pro-ISIS channel that spread information about the homemade synthesis of explosives. Content on the channel included a notorious ISIS video that instructs the user on making acetone peroxide and bomb-making guides from the pro-ISIS online group al-Saqri Foundation.
CEP researchers continued to find extreme right content on X that promoted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant narratives in the United Kingdom. On August 13, an account allegedly belonging to a British individual celebrated reaching over 100,000 followers on the platform. The account has made a large number of anti-Muslim, antisemitic, and pro-neo-Nazi posts. CEP also reported posts by an X account with almost 60,000 followers, who spread links to UK Active Club Telegram channels.
Finally, CEP located a post from a pro-ISIS tech group that shared information on Photoshop file formats.
Extreme-Right Partially Celebrates Neo-Nazi Knife Attack in Eskisehir, Turkey
Some members of the online extreme right celebrated an August 12 knife attack near a mosque in Eskisehir, Turkey. An 18-year-old man stabbed five people before being subdued and arrested. The perpetrator wore a neo-Nazi black sun patch on his body armor, mimicking the Christchurch attacker, and live-streamed his rampage. The assailant also posted a manifesto in Turkish. A Terrorgram-affiliated Telegram channel posted an English-language audio translation on August 14. The manifesto noted that the perpetrator hoped to be included in the list of so-called “saints” who had committed acts of white supremacist terrorism, as well as mentioning Stephen Paddock, the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooter. The manifesto also advocated for acts of misanthropic violence and called explicitly for acts of antisemitic violence, as well as attacks on black people, feminists, the LGBTQ community, leftists, Syrian refugees, Kurds, and soft targets. The attacker noted that his original target was a building belonging to the Communist Party of Turkey.
A link posted in a Terrorgram chat on Telegram, allegedly belonging to a file storage folder linked to the knife attacker, contained the following violent, white supremacist, and/or neo-Nazi materials: the book Siege; Terrorgram manuals that encourage acts of lone actor violence; and the manifestos of the Christchurch attacker, the 2011 Norway attacker, and the May 2022 Buffalo attacker. A notorious Terrorgram channel spread the Eskisehir attacker’s content, including photos and a translation of his manifesto, and noted that he wanted to commit acts of terrorism “for the white race.”
On August 14, posters on 4chan spread social media profiles belonging to the attacker as well as a translation of the manifesto. Most 4chan users on the thread criticized the attacker for not killing any of his victims or for being Turkish himself.
Pro-ISIS Explosives Telegram Channel Removed From Platform After Reporting
CEP researchers located several linked pro-ISIS channels on Telegram on August 12, which included a channel dedicated to sharing guides for making explosives. Content had been posted between January 1 and August 14 and included manuals for synthesizing explosives and building bombs. The channel contained a video guide for making homemade explosives, which was originally released by ISIS in November 2016, as well as guides made by the pro-ISIS al-Saqri Foundation, who have created manuals on the manufacture and use of explosives, poisons, and other weaponry.
Other linked channels contained items from ISIS’s Amaq News outlet, propaganda photos and videos, and information on cryptocurrency, poisons, computer programming, and approximately one dozen other topics. Various content was available in Arabic, English, Portuguese, and Dhivehi.
CEP reported the channels to Telegram’s abuse team on August 12 and the channels were removed by August 16.
Image advertising an al-Saqri Foundation guide on Telegram. Screenshot taken on August 15.
Alleged British Neo-Nazi X Account Celebrates 100,000 Followers
On August 13, a neo-Nazi X account belonging to an individual who claims to be from England celebrated reaching over 100,000 followers on the platform. The account has posted a variety of extreme racist, anti-Muslim, antisemitic, blatant pro-neo-Nazi content and calls for action, including a post encouraging violence against Jews, which had over 86,000 views nine days after it was posted. Other posts, many of which received tens of thousands of views, promoted anti-Muslim violence. Multiple posts made on the account have been restricted for hateful conduct.
The account has also spread disinformation related to the identity of the perpetrators of recent knife crimes in the United Kingdom, falsely claiming that they were Muslim in an effort to promote Islamophobic narratives. The account was created in October 2019 and is linked to a Telegram channel created in August 2023.
CEP reported multiple Tweets from the account on August 15 for violating X’s policies against inciting violence, the use of slurs, and hateful imagery. All tweets were still on the site as of August 19.
X Account with Almost 60,000 Followers Promotes UK Active Club Recruitment
On August 7 and August 8, a verified X account with almost 60,000 followers posted the Telegram accounts and recruitment propaganda for white supremacist Active Clubs in Northern Ireland and England, respectively. The August 7 post had over 17,000 views, and the August 8 post had over 7,600 views within a week. CEP reported the two tweets on August 15 for violating X’s policies against content promoting violent and hateful entities. The accounts were still online on August 19. The same account previously encouraged their followers to harass British news organizations, politicians, police departments, and individuals in response to far-right riots in the country earlier in August.
X post recruiting for the central English Active Club account, posted on August 8. Screenshot taken on August 15.
Pro-ISIS Tech Group Shares Information on Photoshop Files
On August 14, the pro-ISIS tech group Qimam Electronic Foundation (QEF) posted a PasteThis.To link on RocketChat for an explainer on Photoshop Document (PSD) files. The post included information on the different features of images created in Abode Photoshop, how PSD files can be edited, and PSD file features compared to other image file types.