Internet

Der neue Geheimdienstbericht von Innenminister Michael Stübgen (CDU) nimmt die sozialen Netzwerke ins Visier: Zahlreiche Verfassungsfeinde tummeln sich bei Telegram („Lieblingsnetzwerk für Extremisten“) – mit erschreckenden Posts: von offenem Antisemitismus über Verschwörungs- bis zu Umsturz-Fantasien. Und auch die Inhalte auf TikTok stehen unter Beobachtung. Die AfD ist bei Telegram laut Verfassungsschutzbericht besonders aktiv – wie auch der rechtsextreme Verein „Zukunft Heimat“ von Fraktionschef Hans-Christoph Berndt und das rechtsaußen-Magazin „compact“ aus Falkensee. Alarmierend: Auch auf der Kinder- und Jugendplattform TikTok fand der Geheimdienst immer mehr antisemitische und rassistische Posts. “Mit Blick auf die hohen Nutzerzahlen von TikTok unter Jugendlichen besteht die reale Gefahr, dass Extremisten dort zukünftig noch viel aktiver ihre Inhalte verbreiten werden”, warnt der Verfassungsschutz.

via bz berlin: Neuer Bericht TikTok im Visier der Verfassungsschützer

The government uses paid informants to learn about hate groups. But did that money help fuel the same movement it was supposed to be stopping? For years, Joshua Caleb Sutter, an avowed white supremacist from South Carolina, has published and sold books glorifying torture, child abuse, rape, terrorism, mass murder and more – all in the name of his racist and satanic beliefs. His self-published books have become go-to texts for some of the most extreme and violent white supremacists across the world. They have become required reading in a sinister satanist cult that has spread to several countries and has already inspired several known terrorists and would-be mass killers.  The ideas Sutter pushes are so vile they have proven too much even for some of the country’s most dangerous and violent neo-Nazis. In 2018 several people left the white supremacist domestic terrorism group Atomwaffen Division, citing Sutter’s books – and his growing influence in the organization – as too radical even for them. Since 2004, while his publishing business and his influence over radical white supremacists have swelled, Sutter has had another benefactor: the American taxpayer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has paid him at least $140,000 over the past 18 years to provide information about the extremist groups he associates with, according to court records (…) But the relationship between the federal government and one of the chief propagandists of the most radical wing of white supremacy, experts say, raises profound concerns, including whether the agency actually directs public money to help fund the very same extremist movements and hateful propaganda it is supposed to be clamping down on.  

via usatoday: He publishes books on satanism and torture to inspire neo-Nazis. The FBI has paid him $140,000

The social media posts are of a distinct type. They hint darkly that the CIA or the FBI are behind mass shootings. They traffic in racist, sexist and homophobic tropes. They revel in the prospect of a “white boy summer.” White nationalists and supremacists, on accounts often run by young men, are building thriving, macho communities across social media platforms like Instagram, Telegram and TikTok, evading detection with coded hashtags and innuendo. Their snarky memes and trendy videos are riling up thousands of followers on divisive issues including abortion, guns, immigration and LGBTQ rights. The Department of Homeland Security warned Tuesday that such skewed framing of the subjects could drive extremists to violently attack public places across the U.S. in the coming months. These type of threats and racist ideology have become so commonplace on social media that it’s nearly impossible for law enforcement to separate internet ramblings from dangerous, potentially violent people, Michael German, who infiltrated white supremacy groups as an FBI agent, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. “It seems intuitive that effective social media monitoring might provide clues to help law enforcement prevent attacks,” German said. “After all, the white supremacist attackers in Buffalo, Pittsburgh and El Paso all gained access to materials online and expressed their hateful, violent intentions on social media.” But, he continued, “so many false alarms drown out threats.” DHS and the FBI are also working with state and local agencies to raise awareness about the increased threat around the U.S. in the coming months. The heightened concern comes just weeks after a white 18-year-old entered a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, with the goal of killing as many Black patrons as possible. He gunned down 10. That shooter claims to have been introduced to neo-Nazi websites and a livestream of the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings on the anonymous, online messaging board 4Chan. In 2018, the white man who gunned down 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue shared his antisemitic rants on Gab, a site that attracts extremists. The year before, a 21-year-old white man who killed 23 people at a Walmart in the largely Hispanic city of El Paso, Texas, shared his anti-immigrant hate on the messaging board 8Chan. References to hate-filled ideologies are more elusive across mainstream platforms like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram. To avoid detection from artificial intelligence-powered moderation, users don’t use obvious terms like “white genocide” or “white power” in conversation.

via ap: White supremacists are riling up thousands on social media