Islamic State’s “Emoji” Tactics | Needed: U.S. Arctic Strategy | Era of Transparent Warfare Beckons, and more

“This will bring justice for Yazidi victims,” said Wahhab Hassoo, 26, a student who resettled in the Netherlands in 2012. He says his family paid $80,000 for the release of his niece from ISIS after she was abducted in 2014 and offered her “for sale” in a WhatsApp group. “We are asking governments to do an investigation because we believe these platforms have contributed to the genocide,” Mr Hassoo said. The report, produced with the help of lawyers in the US, accuses social media companies of failing to stamp out hate speech against the Yazidis on their platforms, pointing to weaknesses in content moderation and demanding tougher government regulations.

Nelson Far-Right Fanatic Who Had Terror Handbook Jailed  (BBC)
A man who possessed a “terrorist handbook” and had an “obsession” with far-right ideologies has been jailed. Conrad Howarth, from Nelson in Lancashire, pleaded guilty to gathering terrorist material and also possessing extreme pornography. The 41-year-old was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for four-and-a-half years.
Counter-terror officer Det Ch Insp Clare Devlin said right-wing terrorism “will not be tolerated”. “The evidence seized in this investigation was concerning and demonstrated Howarth’s obsession with far right wing ideologies,” he said. Howarth, of Pinfold Place, admitted a charge of collecting, recording, possessing or viewing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. Police said they found the extreme pornography on a laptop when searching his home.”

Canada’s First Convicted Terrorist Deemed Too Dangerous for Parole  (Stewart Nell, Global News)
The first Canadian convicted under anti-terrorism laws enacted after the 9/11 attacks has lost his bid for release after the Parole Board ruled he wasn’t ready to leave prison. The decision followed a hearing at which Mohammad Momin Khawaja struggled to explain how he had reformed since he was arrested when police disrupted a 2004 bomb plot. He also appeared to downplay his actions, claiming he thought at the time that he was supporting a “good cause,” and was simply responding to “social injustice” and “suffering.” “It is the Board’s opinion that you will present an undue risk to society if released, and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society,” read the decision released Wednesday. Khawaja, 42, is serving a life sentence for five terrorism offences stemming from his involvement with Al Qaeda supporters who were planning bomb attacks in the United Kingdom. He has been imprisoned for 18 years. At a hearing on Feb. 3, the Correctional Service of Canada said it opposed his application for day parole, saying he “would present an undue risk if released at this time.” But Khawaja argued he should be allowed to move into an Ottawa halfway house, and said he wanted to study law and volunteer for humanitarian organizations that help refugees.

Islamic State Evolves ’Emoji’ Tactics to Peddle Propaganda Online  (Mark Scott, Politico)
The Islamic State has a new weapon in spreading hate speech and violent content online: the emoji. Over the past two months, Facebook pages in Arabic, Kurdish and English have used these digital images to sidestep Facebook’s content rules. Emojis have been used instead of words like “weapon,” “explosion” and “rocket” to champion the Islamic State’s terrorist attacks across the Middle East and farther afield. These pages, posing as mainstream media organizations with mundane names like World News and Media Point, have collectively racked up hundreds of thousands of likes, shares and comments, based on research shared with POLITICO. The fake news outlets are part of a sophisticated digital disinformation campaign that includes deploying different tactics across Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and Telegram channels. Islamic State-affiliated channels, all told, have almost 80,000 followers. Some of the social media content has been available since June 2020, primarily focusing on spreading hate speech in Iraq and Syria by sharing news about ISIS attacks from the group’s official mouthpieces. Much of the ISIS content reviewed by POLITICO is still online — and none of it should be available on social media, based on platforms’ own rules against terrorist content.

Alleged Member of Neo-Nazi Terror Cell Says He Entered Right-Wing Politics as a Donald Trump Supporter  (Lizzie Dearden, Independent)
An alleged member of a neo-Nazi terror cell has told a court he first entered “right-wing politics” as a Donald Trump supporter. Samuel Whibley, 29, is charged with disseminating terrorist publications and encouraging terrorism using the encrypted Telegram messaging app. Sheffield Crown Court heard he set up a channel and linked chat where neo-Nazi propaganda and bomb manuals were shared. Prosecutors allege the groups were about “finding the ways and means to copy those responsible for the worst extreme right-wing atrocities”, and another of the members is accused of trying to make explosives and a 3D-printed gun. Giving evidence at the trial, Mr Whibley denied being a neo-Nazi or wanting to encourage terror attacks. While being questioned by a defence barrister, he said he did not have an “interest in politics” before he started studying for a forestry degree at Bangor University in 2019. Mr Whibley told the jury he made a new group of friends, including an American student called Noah. “I started off at the lower end of right-wing politics, I was a Trump supporter from the beginning in 2016,” he added. “Noah was very republican and an ardent supporter of Trump … he introduced me to right-wing memes, he would send them to me.

U.S. Intelligence Report Details :Indirect” Russian Government Support for Western Neofascist Groups  (Zach Dorfman and Jana Winter, Yahoo News)
A U.S. intelligence community assessment obtained by Yahoo News concluded that the Russian government is providing “indirect and passive support” to neofascist groups operating in the U.S. and elsewhere, but stops short of accusing the Kremlin of supplying financial or material assistance to Western extremist groups.
The Kremlin “probably tolerates some private Russian entities’ support” for U.S. and European white nationalist groups “because it aligns with Kremlin efforts to aggravate societal fissures in the West,” states the report.

Activity Shows Terror Groups and Right-Wing Extremists Were Undeterred by COVID-19 Pandemic  (Mahmut Cengiz, HSToday)
Terrorist movements continued to maintain their operational capacity and responded to the virus based on the pillars of their ideologies.

U.S. Judges Faced Over 4,500 Threats in 2021 amid Rising Extremism -Official  (Reuters)
U.S. federal judges were the target of more than 4,500 threats and other inappropriate communications last year, the head of the U.S. Marshals Service said on Monday, adding that his office is concerned about the rise of domestic extremism in America. “The increase in our judicial … threat investigations and inappropriate comments have been going up quite frankly for a couple of years,” Ronald Davis, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, told journalists in a conference call. He said the threat risk is “growing exponentially.” Federal law enforcement officials have sounded alarm bells about a growing tide of threats posed by white supremacists and anti-government activists, many of whom have touted former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Earlier this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched a task force aimed at combating threats targeting state election workers and volunteers, an effort that so far has led to two criminal cases. Garland has also instructed the FBI to work with local officials to monitor an increase in threats to school boards, which have faced an onslaught of criticism over issues ranging from mask mandates to the teaching of critical race theory. The threats to judges were varied and in some cases came from disgruntled defendants, Davis said.

The Far-Right Has Turned East Germans Against Vaccines  (Lucian Staiano-Daniels, Foreign Policy)
Global anti-vaccine lies are finding local footholds.

Foreign Money Funding ‘Extremism’ in Canada, Says Hacker  (Tracey Lindeman, Guardian)
A hacker who leaked the names and locations of more than 90,000 people who donated money to the Canadian trucker convoy protest has said it exposed how money from abroad had funded “extremism” in the country. In an exclusive interview, the hacker told the Guardian that Canada was “not safe from foreign political manipulation”. “You see a huge amount of money that isn’t even coming from Canada – that’s plain as day,” said the hacker, who belongs to the hacktivist group Anonymous. The leaked data showed that more than 90,000 donations were made via GiveSendGo, with most funds appearing to come from Canada and the US. According to the data, individuals in countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark also donated. Amarnath Amarasingam, a professor at Canada’s Queens University and an expert in extremism and social movements, tweeted that of the 92,844 donations, “51,666 (56%) came from the US, 36,202 (29%) came from Canada, and 1,831 (2%) came from the UK.” US-based donations totalled US$3.62m, while Canadians donated US$4.31m, he added. The hacker said the sizeable number of donations coming from Canada showed that some people in the country had fallen into step with what they saw as American-style extremism.

FBI Believes It Is ‘Beyond Suspicion’ That Lisa Smith Joined Isis, Court Hears  (Eoin Reynolds, Irish Times)
An FBI agent has told the Special Criminal Court that it was “beyond suspicion” that former Irish soldier Lisa Smith had joined the Islamic State (Isis) terrorist group when she was in Syria. Agent B, who cannot be identified because he is involved in counter terrorism operations around the world, told Ms Smith’s defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC that he was in Syria in 2019 when she was being held in the Ain Issa camp.
When the witness said that Ms Smith had “joined Isis”, Mr O’Higgins put it to him that that was just his suspicion. The agent replied: “It was beyond suspicion at this point.” Ms Smith (39), from Dundalk, Co Louth has pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful terrorist group, Isis, between October 28th, 2015 and December 1st, 2019. She has also pleaded not guilty to financing terrorism by sending €800, via a Western Union transfer, to a named man on May 6th, 2015. Five counter terrorism FBI agents gave evidence on Wednesday and Thursday this week during legal argument in the trial. Most of the evidence from the FBI agents was ruled inadmissible by the court. However, the agents were cross-examined about their knowledge of Ms Smith.

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A New Era of Transparent Warfare Beckons  (Economist)
Russia’s maneuvers are a coming-out party for open-source intelligence.

The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth  (Stephan Lewandowsky, Peter Jacobs, and Stuart Neil, Scientific American)
Virus origin stories have always been prone to conspiracy theories. COVID disinformation has threatened research—and lives

Partnerships, Proactive Approach Needed to Close Port Cybersecurity Gaps  (Tom Goodman, HSToday)
Through its connection in port, the vessel is tying directly into an unfiltered power source, becoming part of the national grid.

Justice Department Announces First Director of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team  (DOJ)
The Justice Department on Thursday announced the selection and appointment of Eun Young Choi to serve as the first Director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). Ms. Choi is a seasoned prosecutor with nearly a decade of experience within the department, and most recently served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. She will assume her duties full-time effective Thursday.

Companies Have a Lot to Fear from Russia’s Digital Warmongering  (Economist)
Insurance against state-sponsored hacks is becoming harder to find.

DHS Program Aims to Force-Multiply CBP Presence With Commercial Tech  (Summer Myatt, Govcomwire)
Department of Homeland Security program allows the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to explore the use of Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles, known as “robot dogs,” in national security-focused operations along the southern U.S. border.

By Looking at the Past, New Cyber Board Can Prepare Us for the Future  (Maria Korolov, Date Center Knowledge)
The Cyber Safety Review Board will see government agencies collaborate with security and network companies.

US Senators: Need for a Comprehensive State Department Arctic Strategy  (Hilde-Gunn Bye, High North News)
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Angus King (I-ME), as well as ten of their Senate colleagues, have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address critical Arctic issues.
In the letter, the 12 Senators raise the need for a comprehensive Arctic strategy and question the State Department’s organizational approach to the region, a press release states.

How to Stop Former Western Leaders from Becoming Paid Shills for Autocrats  (Casey Michel, Foreign Policy)
From Gerhard Schröder to Tony Blair, former officials have cashed in by repping autocrats and their proxies.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict Prompted U.S. to Develop Autonomous Drone Swarms, 1,000-Mile Cannon  (Jason Sherman, Scientific American)
The U.S. military has new technology on the drawing board in response to warfare trends previously demonstrated in the region

US could see a century’s worth of sea rise in just 30 years  (Seth Borenstein, AP / Phys.org)
The seas lapping against America’s coastlines are rising ever faster and will be 10 to 12 inches higher by the year 2050, with major Eastern cities hit regularly with costly floods even on sunny days, a government report says.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and six other federal agencies issued a 111-page report Tuesday that warns of “significant consequences” from rising seas in the next few decades, with parts of Louisiana and Texas projected to see waters a foot and a half (0.45 meters) higher.

How the China Initiative Went Wrong  (Matt Schiavenza, Foreign Policy)
A key anti-espionage effort is mired in accusations of racism and overzealous prosecutions.