CEP Guide to Online Propagandists
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CEP Guide to Online Propagandists In November 2017, YouTube adopted a policy prohibiting content from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki. CEP has long advocated for Internet platforms such as YouTube to adopt such “no-tolerance policies” for Awlaki. YouTube’s decision is a positive step, but more must be done to eliminate radicalizing extremist ideologies from the Internet. There is no shortage of extremist actors and ideologues online. Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Yusuf al-Qaradawi is banned from entering the United States, United Kingdom, and France because of his declared support for suicide bombings and incitement of Islamist violence. Khuram Butt, one of the June 2017 London Bridge attackers, was reportedly influenced by American propagandist Ahmad Musa Jibril. Shoe bomber Richard Reid was partially radicalized by Jamaican radical Abdullah Faisal. Content featuring Qaradawi, Jibril, Faisal, and other propagandists is just as dangerous as content from Awlaki, and yet remains widely available on YouTube and other social media platforms. At a minimum, content from individuals with links to violent extremist actors should be removed from online platforms. Name: Turki al-Binali Affiliation: ISIS Reason for Listing: Bahraini-born Turki al-Binali was ISIS’s chief religious advisor. He also worked to recruit foreign fighters for ISIS from the Gulf. Binali was designated as a terrorist by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, and was stripped of his Bahraini citizenship in January 2015. Although there was speculation that Binali might succeed ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani following reports of Adnani’s death in August 2016, he was reportedly passed over for the role and “confined to a mere role of religious authority” instead. Binali was killed by a coalition airstrike in Mayadin, Syria, on May 31, 2017. (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, NBC News, EUR-Lex, United Nations, Bahrain News Agency, New York Times, CENTCOM) Online Presence • YouTube Presence 1 o Search results as of 12/20/17: “Turki al-Binali”: 10; “Abu Sufyan al-Salmi”: 204; 3,070 ::”أبو سفيان السلمي“ ;2,480 :”تركي البنعلي“ o Explaining the Conditions and Meanings of Takfeer (excommunication): Lesson Four of Shaykh Turki Bin Ali (Posted 7/18/13, 4,552 views as of 12/20/17) o Shaykh Abu Sufyan al-Salmi’s Interjection in the Broadcast of Monotheism in Sirte (Posted 3/2/13, 3,010 views as of 12/21/17) o Part One: Traits of the Surviving Band Abu Sufyan al-Salmi (Posted 2/9/13, 5,699 views as of 12/20/2017) o Debate Between Shaykh Dr. Mujammad bin Abdullah al-Mas’ai and Shaykh Turk bin Mubarak Bin Ali- Complete (Posted 10/2/17, 3,289 views as of 12/20/17) • Twitter Accounts(s) o Not determined. o Old accounts existed but have since been deleted. • Facebook Account(s) o Not determined. • Other Social Media Presence o Not determined. Notable Rhetoric: • “The command is known…you must fight the United States.” (Video deleted, YouTube) • “Do not fear except for Allah. Previously, that tyrant Assad had prayed in it [the mosque from where bin Ali gave this Ramadan sermon]” (8/27/13, translation, YouTube) • “How did you not write…about the conditions for the (establishment of the) imamate (leadership)? … The imamate is seeking the implementation of hudud (fixed punishments in sharia).” (2/22/13, translation, YouTube) Name: Musa Cerantonio Affiliation: None Reason for Listing: Musa Cerantonio is an Australian Islamist preacher who has inspired numerous foreign fighters to join jihadist groups in Syria. According to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), Cerantonio is “an outspoken cheerleader for ISIS” and one of two English-speaking “spiritual authorities” who influenced Westerners to fight abroad. In the Philippines in 2013, Cerantonio used YouTube to call for jihad and praise ISIS, 2 according to the Philippine police who deported Cerantonio back to Australia in July 2014. Australian police arrested Cerantonio and four others in May 2016 for allegedly preparing to sail to Indonesia with the intent of reaching Syria. Before his arrest, Cerantonio had long corresponded with ISIS fighters through social media. He frequently used social media to call for the assassination of U.S. leaders and praise jihadists in Syria. Cerantonio’s Twitter and Facebook accounts have been shut down, but many of his videos remain on YouTube. (Sources: International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian, Associated Press) Online Presence • YouTube Presence o Search results, as of 12/20/17: “Musa Cerantonio”: 7,400 o Democracy and Islam (বা廬লা সাবটাইটটল সহ) by Sayekh Musa Cerantonio (Posted 11/8/17, 909 views as of 12/20/17) o FIQH & SHARIAH || Musa Cerantonio (Posted 10/14/15, 23,008 views as of 12/20/17) o Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal (The False Messiah, The Anti-Christ) - Musa Cerantonio (Posted 2/14/13, 37,027 views as of 12/20/17) o I Converted To Islam After Visiting The Vatican - Musa Cerantonio - From Darkness to Light (Posted 1/1/13, 666,486 views as of 12/20/17) o What Is A Salafi? || Musa Cerantonio || IFA Q&A (Posted 10/22/15, 28,713 views as of 12/20/17) • Twitter Account(s) o Not determined. • Facebook Account(s) o Not determined. • Other Social Media Presence o Instagram: musaceranton (78 followers as of 12/20/17) o Instagram: #musacerantonio (15 videos and images as of 12/20/17) Notable Rhetoric: • “In all honesty, we have to ask ourselves, do we believe in democracy? No, we don’t. Democracy is the idea that you follow the law of the majority. So if the majority of people decide to vote that they don’t want sharia, you must follow this. So this is not our system. In the end you’re going to see that whenever Muslims have tried to use democracy it has failed.” (11/8/17, YouTube) • “May we be loyal soldiers of the Islamic State until we return to our Lord.” (6/14, Deleted Tweet) • “The USA and its slaves like you are the greatest criminals on Earth.” (3/21/14, Deleted Tweet) • “You sit back and you say, ‘Oh but look at them, China, America, England’ have you forgotten about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala)? Have you forgotten about the almighty, the one who destroyed the army of Abraha, the one who vanquished the crusaders and the Soviets? Yet you think He can’t defeat Bush or Obama? Where is your Iman? You think 3 that Bashar is greater than Allah? How dare any Muslim say this! How dare you say that we are weak! When we have Allah, nobody can defeat us!” (6/11/14, YouTube) Name: Tarik Chadlioui Affiliation: None Reason for Listing: Tarik Chadlioui, a.k.a. Tarik Ibn Ali, is a Moroccan-born Islamist preacher who reportedly played a role in radicalizing Bataclan suicide bomber Omar Mostefai through sermons at a Paris mosque. Chadlioui is further accused of fundraising for Syrian extremists and of being the spiritual leader of the now-defunct Islamist group Sharia4Belgium, which has ties to the defunct group Sharia4UK, once led by jailed propagandist Anjem Choudary. Though reportedly based in the United Kingdom since 2015, Spanish authorities accuse Chadlioui of being the spiritual leader of a jihadist group in Spain. Spain accuses Chadlioui of using his social media channels to recruit for ISIS. On June 28, 2017, British authorities arrested Chadlioui in Birmingham as part of a continent-wide operation against ISIS supporters. (Sources: Daily Mail, Telegraph) Online Presence • YouTube Presence o Search results, as of 12/20/17: “Tarik Ibn Ali”: 13,300; “Tarik Chadlioui”: 536 o Channel: Tarik Ibn Ali (Created 8/17/07, 18,256 subscribers and 13,932,799 views as of 12/20/17) (Posted 10/16/16, 4,270 views as of 12/20/17) علي إبن طارق o tarik ibn ali chadlioui o Tarik Ibn Ali chadlioui (Posted 6/4/16, 3,686 views as of 12/20/17) اوروبا في النقاب جداا مؤثر علي ابن طارق o Tarik ibn Ali Nikab di Europa Allaho Akbar (Posted 4/18/15, 47,455 views as of 12/20/17) o Ô toi qui délaisse ou retarde la prière ! [2/8] (Posted 4/10/10, 11,691 views as of 12/20/17) • Twitter Account(s) o Not determined. • Facebook Account(s) o Tarik Chadlioui (28,275 followers as of 12/20/17) o Tarik Ibn Ali (70,230 likes, 71,041 followers as of 12/20/17) • Other Social Media Presence 4 o Not determined. Notable Rhetoric: • Muslims should take up “armed punishments in the secular lands.” (6/11/17, translation, YouTube) • “He who dies in jihad (combat in the path to Allah), Allah will forgive him all his sins.” (4/11/10, translation, YouTube) Name: Anjem Choudary Affiliation: Pro-ISIS Reason for Listing: British citizen Anjem Choudary is a U.S.-designated Islamist cleric and convicted ISIS supporter imprisoned in the United Kingdom. British authorities arrested Choudary and his associate Mohammed Mizanur Rahman in September 2014 for suspected membership in ISIS and charged them in August 2015 with promoting support for ISIS based on their YouTube speeches. In September 2016, Choudary was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. The U.S. government sanction-designated Choudary in March 2017. Prior to his arrest, Choudary’s Islamist speeches, anti-Western rhetoric, and declared support for foreign Islamist movements drew the attention of British authorities, who connected Choudary to multiple terrorist-related cases in the United Kingdom and Europe. Choudary is also a founding member of al-Muhajiroun, a banned Islamist group in Britain that openly praised the 9/11 attacks.