Terrorist groups have found a home on smaller, less well-known online platforms in recent years where they store, share, and link to content such as violent beheading videos and recruitment propaganda. Those platforms have struggled to deal with the problem due to a lack of resources and expertise, but a …
Read More »Here’s How Violent Extremists Are Exploiting Generative AI Tools
Extremist groups have begun to experiment with artificial intelligence, and in particular generative AI, in order to create a flood of new propaganda. Experts now fear the growing use of generative AI tools by these groups will overturn the work Big Tech has done in recent years to keep their …
Read More »The GOP Presidential Debate Is Livestreaming on Rumble, Home to White Nationalist Nick Fuentes
Tonight, the third GOP presidential primary debate will take place in Miami. The event is sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) at a time when antisemitic incidents in the US, according to the Anti-Defamation League, have risen by nearly 400 percent since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last month. While …
Read More »How Telegram Became a Terrifying Weapon in the Israel-Hamas War
At around 8 am local time the morning of October 7, Haaretz’s cyber and disinformation reporter, Omer Benjakob, was woken by his wife at their home in the historic port city of Jaffa. Something was happening in southern Israel, she said, but Benjakob shrugged it off, presuming “another round of …
Read More »Greece’s New Political Star Is a TikTok Creation
On the night that Greece’s biggest left-wing party voted for its new leader, all anyone could talk about was pizza. At stake was the future of the Syriza party, which had run Greece at the head of a coalition government from 2015 to 2019. As the votes came in on …
Read More »The UK’s Controversial Online Safety Act Is Now Law
Jeremy Wright was the first of five UK ministers charged with pushing through the British government’s landmark legislation on regulating the internet, the Online Safety Bill. The current UK government likes to brand its initiatives as “world-beating,” but for a brief period in 2019 that might have been right. Back …
Read More »Rumors of a ‘Global Day of Jihad’ Have Unleashed a Dangerous Wave of Disinformation
Far-right figures in the United States are making violent threats against Muslims in response to what they believe is a planned “global day of jihad” today. The violent rhetoric comes in response to comments made in a statement by Khaled Meshaal, the founder and former leader of Hamas, to Reuters …
Read More »US House Republicans Had Their Phones Confiscated to Stop Leaks
Last week, after helping foment the eight-person coup that ended Kevin McCarthy’s 269-day reign as speaker of the United States House of Representatives Matt Gaetz’s signature smirk was everywhere. The 41-year-old Florida congressman peacocked through a slew of must-see Beltway cable news shows, dancing on McCarthy’s political grave, and generally …
Read More »California Nixes a Bill to Decriminalize Plant-Based Psychedelics
Over the weekend, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 58 (SB 58), nixing the state’s attempt to become one of a handful that are loosening restrictions on plant-based hallucinogens. The legislation was an effort to increase access to psychedelic therapy and remove penalties for people seeking these drugs. The …
Read More »White Supremacist Active Clubs Are Breeding on Telegram
On Monday evening, Gabrielle Hanson, a pro-MAGA mayoral candidate in Tennessee, walked through the parking lot of Franklin City Hall, on her way to debate her opponent, incumbent Ken Moore, in what was meant to be little more than a typical campaign stop in the small city of Franklin just …
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