United Nations: Myanmar: Social media companies must stand up to junta’s online terror campaign say UN experts. “Myanmar’s military junta is orchestrating an online campaign of terror, and weaponising social media platforms to crush democratic opposition, UN experts* said today.” The * looks a little odd but it just leads to a footnote listing sixteen experts by name.
Europol: 17 countries join forces to prevent chemical terrorism on European soil. “On 21 February, a large-scale Referral Action Day targeting the misuse of dangerous chemicals by terrorist groups took place at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague…. Investigators scoured the clear and dark web to identify and refer for removal propaganda and instructions on the use of high-risk chemicals, and the toxic gases they generate, in terrorist material and online fora. As a result, over 120 individual pieces of content were referred to 21 online service providers to secure their swift removal.”
Augusta University: New study shows link between social media posts and civil disobedience, violence. “Lance Hunter, PhD, associate professor in Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and the Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies program at Augusta University, recently contributed to two studies that show evidence linking social media to political violence, including domestic terrorism and civil conflict. The studies included more than 150 countries and covered the time frame 2000 to 2019.”
Wall Street Journal: Keep ISIS Off Twitter. “For all its faults, Twitter has managed in recent years to keep ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups off its platform. But jihadists still want to tweet and won’t stop trying to sneak back onto Twitter. As Elon Musk restores many accounts that had been shut down, he should make sure he doesn’t give back access to jihadists who would kill and maim innocent people the in name of militant fundamentalist Islam.”
The National Interest: Virtual Reality, Real Dangers: The Metaverse Poses Counterterrorism Challenges. “Even though the arrival of a fully functional metaverse is still a few years away, the potential threats posed by the metaverse require immediate attention from a wide range of individuals and organizations.”
Rolling Stone: Leaked Jan. 6 Committee Report Exposes Twitter’s Post-Insurrection Chaos. “IN THE IMMEDIATE aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, Twitter employees raged at their own company and its leadership, blaming them for the social media giant’s inept handling of Donald Trump and other top MAGA figures’ incitement to violence. ‘Do you want to have more blood on your hands?’ one staffer asked a top executive, Del Harvey, when she questioned whether Trump could inspire more violence in the insurrection’s aftermath.”
Wall Street Journal: Germany Dismantles Suspected QAnon-Inspired Terrorist Group. “The group was inspired by the QAnon conspiracy that has spread worldwide from the U.S. and has been linked to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, as well as the German Reichsbürger, or Citizens of the Reich, movement, which rejects the German state and its institutions, the prosecutor said.”
The Guardian: Twitter failed to detect upload of Christchurch mosque terror attack videos. “Twitter has removed freshly uploaded footage of the Christchurch terror attack that was circulating on the platform, but only after the New Zealand government alerted the company, which had failed to recognise the content as harmful.”
Jerusalem Post: TikTok bans Palestinian terror group Lions’ Den from platform. ” Video-sharing platform TikTok has restricted the account of the new Palestinian terrorist group claiming responsibility for a host of recent attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank, the Lions’ Den. The group, which has yet to reveal its political affiliation to any Palestinian faction, has been using its social media platforms to share propaganda and increase support.”
Tubefilter: YouTube’s Chief Product Officer testified before Congress. Then he announced a new approach to extremist content.. “Neal Mohan has had a busy week. On Wednesday, YouTube‘s Chief Product Officer was one of the tech execs who was called to testify before Congress. A day later, after attending a White House summit, he took to Twitter to announce an updated content moderation policy that aims to curb violent extremist content — even when that content is not affiliated with a known terrorist organization.”
Wall Street Journal: Islamic State Turns to NFTs to Spread Terror Message. “A simple digital card praising Islamist militants for an attack on a Taliban position in Afghanistan last month is the first known nonfungible token created and disseminated by a terrorist sympathizer, according to former senior U.S. intelligence officials. It is a sign that Islamic State and other terror groups may be preparing to use the emerging financial technology to sidestep Western efforts to eradicate their online fundraising and messaging, they said.”
CNN: Account bearing Ohio FBI standoff suspect’s name encouraged violence against the agency in posts on Trump social media platform. “An account bearing the name of Ricky Shiffer, the man authorities say they killed after he tried Thursday to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati, made posts on the social media platform founded by Donald Trump referencing the attempt to storm the office and encouraging others online to prepare for a revolutionary-type war.”
Reuters: Nigeria asks Google to block banned groups from YouTube. “Nigeria asked Google to block the use of YouTube channels and livestreams by banned groups and terrorist organizations in the country, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said on Thursday.”
The National News: UK and US sign data access pact to share social media and phone data to tackle terrorism. “The UK and US have signed a data access agreement to share social media and phone information to tackle major crimes, including terrorism. The new agreement will come into force in October and will allow either nation to immediately access phone and social media data to help in major investigations, Britain’s Home Office said.”
Radio New Zealand: Coroner signals social media’s role in mosque terror attacks a priority for inquest. “The coroner’s inquest into the mosque terror attacks, in which 51 people were killed, will look into the role of social media in the killer’s radicalisation, and the emergency response on the day.”
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