(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-affiliated Amaq News released a video showing the Egyptian military transporting two bulldozers purportedly damaged by ISIS in Sinai with links to the video spread via RocketChat. Also, Robert Rundo, the co-founder of the Rise Above Movement (RAM), launched a podcast with Denis Nikitin, the founder of the white supremacist White Rex MMA clothing brand, on the Spreaker platform.
Meanwhile, as Telegram continues to remove white supremacist channels, several administrators have posted links to backup channels on the Matrix platform. Additionally, a prominent neo-Nazi Telegram channel posted a manual of instructions to remove the microphone and camera from a smartphone to prevent surveillance. Finally, CEP researchers located several pieces of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases, on the e-commerce site Gear Bubble.
ISIS Affiliated Amaq News Videos Located on Several Websites
On January 24, ISIS-affiliated Amaq News released a video showing the Egyptian military transporting two bulldozers purportedly damaged by ISIS in Sinai. Links to the video were spread via RocketChat. The video was posted on at least eight websites: File.Fm, Streamable, PixelDrain, Top4top, Dropbox, the Microsoft One Drive, the Internet Archive, and Mega.Nz. Four days later, the video was only available on two websites: Top4top and the Internet Archive.
Another Amaq video, released on January 27 and purporting to show an IED attack against a vehicle near al-Hasakah in Syria, was located on Streamable approximately 24 hours after it was posted to the website.
ISIS Amaq video on Streamable, January 28, 2021
Rise Above Movement Co-Founder Launches Podcast
Robert Rundo, the co-founder of the Rise Above Movement (RAM), launched a podcast with Denis Nikitin, the founder of the white supremacist White Rex MMA clothing brand, on the Spreaker platform. An episode covered the topics of demonstrations and allegations of election fraud in the U.S. and included the hosts stating that they would attempt to recruit individuals angry about the January 6 capitol insurrection into the broader white supremacist movement. Rundo noted that their opponents were “subhuman” while Nikitin stated that their enemies were “rats, snakes, cockroaches, (and) insects,” which meant that “unfortunately we need to go down to their level and destroy them in another way.” The podcast was no longer available on Spreaker on January 29.
CEP has previously located content from ISIS and the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement on Spreaker. The podcasting platform’s Terms of Service prohibits content that “either directly or indirectly” promotes “hate, racism, discrimination…or violence.”
The podcast is still available on BitChute and is advertised on a RAM affiliated YouTube account.
Neo-Nazi Telegram Channels Encourage Move to Matrix
As Telegram continues to remove extreme-right and white supremacist channels, several administrators have posted links to backup channels on the Matrix platform. A white supremacist chat poster stated that Telegram was no longer safe and that Matrix, a decentralized and open-source platform, would provide greater information security and encryption.
As of January 28, Telegram had removed approximately 50 channels and chats, including far right, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi channels that had called for violence, spread bomb making information, or posted information for targeted harassment on social media. Several of the deleted channels have been able to return to the platform under new names, and in some cases modifying the content that they post. Other extreme-right channels have become private, making them unsearchable and requiring a specific joining link, and in some cases, the private channels forward content to public channels.
Neo-Nazi Telegram Channel Posts Guide to Removing Microphones and Cameras From Smartphones
On January 25, a prominent neo-Nazi Telegram channel posted a manual of instructions on how to remove the microphone and camera from a smartphone to prevent surveillance. The channel is dedicated to operations and information security, has previously called for violence, and has over 5,500 subscribers. The manual, which was posted on the Internet Archive, lamented that many people involved in the January 6 capitol insurrection had been arrested due to information taken from their phones.
Merchandise Promoting Neo-Nazism and Anti-Semitism Located on Gear Bubble
CEP researchers located several pieces of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases, on the e-commerce site Gear Bubble. Some of the items were from a store on the site belonging to the admin of a neo-Nazi Telegram channel. Logos included the SS deaths head, the black sun symbol, and images of Hitler and anti-Semitic slogans. Gear Bubble’s Terms of Service prohibit content on the site that is “obscene” or “indecent.”