Countering Online Terrorist Propaganda
The Europol Podcast
Europol
4.6 • 7 Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the world was confronted with the rise of so-called Islamic State, a core component of the terrorists’ strategy relied on propaganda. Their aim was to spread their violent ideology and radicalise people around the world. Brutal imagery went from the battlefield to the news feed, glorifying the terroristic acts of IS; law enforcement had to take action to counter the spread of jihadist terrorist content online.
In this episode, you’ll learn about Europol’s investigation into the propaganda network of the so-called Islamic State. From the first day of the investigation until final action days, let Europol agents, EU police and global crime experts take you inside this major counter terrorism operation.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In any terrorist attack that I've covered as an investigator so far, it's always the propaganda that has a pivotal role in the radicalization pathway. |
| 0:14.3 | I think it was very important for law enforcement agencies to acknowledge that the online presence of a terrorist organization is as important as the physical presence. |
| 0:27.9 | Welcome to the Europol podcast, the official podcast of the EU agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation. |
| 0:34.7 | In this series, we shine a light on some of the biggest operations Europol has |
| 0:39.0 | supported and how we continue to fight crime. |
| 0:44.4 | Today's episode, shutting down online extremists. |
| 0:53.3 | Terrorism remains a significant threat to the internal security of the European Union. |
| 0:59.0 | As a result, EU law enforcement authorities remain vigilant and united in fighting the threat. |
| 1:05.0 | Here at Europol, we monitor for and counter-terrorist threats from our European Counterterrorism Center. |
| 1:11.6 | One of the main ways terrorists recruit others to their cause is propaganda. |
| 1:16.6 | It takes many forms, misinformation and disinformation, blog posts, |
| 1:21.6 | videos, social media posts, you name it. |
| 1:24.6 | By putting out propaganda, these groups target the disaffected and vulnerable. |
| 1:29.8 | And the more people the propaganda radicalizes, the better. |
| 1:33.2 | These terrorists and extremist groups operate, usually, at the edges of society. |
| 1:38.1 | But in 2014, the world was confronted by the rise of so-called Islamic State, or IS. IS took large swathes of territory in the Middle East, beckoning a reign of terror for all those trapped in IS-controlled lands. |
| 1:52.0 | Suddenly a radical and violent extremist group was operating not like a fringe group, but as if it was a real country. |
| 2:00.0 | IS decided they would invest in a modern, western-style central news agency, |
| 2:05.6 | a news agency that would spread the news as they wanted it told, |
| 2:09.6 | so that they could reach around the world and spread their violent rhetoric far and wide. |
| 2:14.6 | That news agency was called Amak, and in this episode we'll meet the dedicated people |
| 2:20.6 | who brought it all down. And the idea was to mimic exactly what a news agency will do in order |
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