(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, ISIS’s self-proclaimed West African Province (ISWAP) released a video titled “Generation of Empowerment” on over a dozen websites that contains interviews with ISIS child soldiers and shows child soldiers committing acts of violence. The pro-ISIS tech group Electronic Horizons Foundation (EHF) alerted its followers that shared photos can reveal identifying information and urged them to remove the photos’ metadata.
Additionally, users on 4chan’s /pol board shared the live stream of Norway terrorist Anders Breivik’s parole hearing and celebrated his actions, while also posting links to his manifesto. CEP researchers also found an account on the Internet Archive connected to a neo-Nazi website with numerous pieces of white supremacist and fascist content. Finally, researchers located a Telegram channel belonging to the neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division (FKD).
ISIS Propaganda Video Released on Multiple Websites
On January 18, ISIS’s self-proclaimed West African province (ISWAP) released a video titled “Generation of Empowerment,” which contained interviews with ISIS child soldiers at a training camp in Nigeria. The video shows children and teenagers being instructed in weapons use, religion, Arabic language, and also depicts students watching ISIS propaganda videos and participating in martial arts instruction and weapons drills. The video includes several executions, including a young child executing a man identified as a Nigerian special forces soldier, teenagers killing a man alleged to be a sergeant in the Nigerian Army, and the killing of another unidentified individual. The video concludes with a teenage ISIS fighter firing a crew-served weapon and stating that he is now participating in combat following his training.
In addition to Telegram, Hoop, RocketChat, and Element, the video was uploaded to at least 21 websites. Approximately 24 hours later, the video was still available on seven websites: Facebook, the Internet Archive, D.Tube, File.Fm, the IPFS distributed web platform, Transfer.Sh, and Uqload. Facebook and Uqload removed the video after CEP reported it. The Internet Archive did not remove the video after it was reported by CEP.
Recently released ISIS video on Facebook, January 20, 2022.
Pro-ISIS Tech Group Warns Followers About Metadata
The pro-ISIS tech group Electronic Horizons Foundation (EHF) warned its followers on several platforms about metadata in shared photos. The group stated that images, including those made with Adobe, can potentially contain identifying information and recommended using open-source programs to remove metadata. EHF was created in 2016 to provide cybersecurity and web technical assistance to ISIS supporters. The group has previously offered advice regarding the messaging apps Hoop, Element, and Briar.
4chan Users Glorify Norway Terrorist and Spread Manifesto
On January 18, 4chan’s /pol board users shared links for the live stream of Norway terrorist Anders Breivik’s parole hearing, celebrated the terrorist and his actions, and posted links to his manifesto. In over 400 messages, 4chan users shared messages and memes encouraging acts of violence and antisemitism, as well as posts glorifying other right-wing extremist terrorists.
Internet Archive Account Linked to Neo-Nazi Website Located
CEP researchers located an account on the Internet Archive linked to a neo-Nazi website that uploaded various pieces of white supremacist and fascist content. Uploaded content included a manual on multiple killing techniques, videos of the notorious neo-Nazi James Mason, versions of Mason’s book Siege in Italian and Portuguese, antisemitic, racist, and anti-LGBT texts, translated documents from Nazi Germany that bear the logo of the group National Socialist Order, content written by contributors to the neo-Nazi website, and material from the fascist web forum Iron March. The Telegram channel for the website stated that they had uploaded content to the Internet Archive, sharing a link. The Internet Archive did not remove the account or its content after CEP reported it.
The website has previously advocated for acts of violence, is dedicated to spreading neo-Nazi author James Mason’s work, and contains writings by members of the National Socialist Order and several former members of the Atomwaffen Division (AWD). The site lists former AWD members, one member of the neo-Nazi group The Base, and a white supremacist imprisoned for a mail bombing as “prisoners of war.”
Neo-Nazi Telegram Channel Returns to Telegram After Several Deletions
CEP researchers located a Telegram channel belonging to the decentralized accelerationist neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division (FKD). The channel was created on December 17, 2021, and called for acts of violence and shared the neo-Nazi book Siege. On January 15, the channel threatened a journalist by name. The channel also posted a video containing Lithuanian police footage of an FKD member, Gediminas Beržinskas, placing a homemade explosive device outside a Western Union building in Vilnius. Beržinskas was sentenced to two years and four months in prison in September 2020. At least five earlier Telegram channels affiliated with FKD have been removed from the platform, four in 2021 in June, July, October, and December, and one in 2022 in mid-January.