The Terrorist Threat Washington Isn’t Hearing

Excerpt

Most people who use online streaming platforms would not think of terrorism if they saw “7amas” in the title of a song. But replacing the ‘H’ in ‘Hamas’ with a ‘7’ is a common means of evading content filters. My colleagues and I found more than 550 unique pro-Hamas songs in a thorough search of SoundCloud, the popular audio-sharing platform. SoundCloud and other platforms have been effective in taking down Islamic State and al-Qaeda propaganda, but the persistence of pro-Hamas content shows that they need to increase the sophistication of their efforts to identify terrorist propaganda. 

Federal Counterterrorism Strategy Must Address Online Extremist Content 

Federal law enforcement may be able to help.

The Trump administration’s new counterterrorism strategy pledges that Washington will identify and neutralize the media platforms of terrorist groups before terrorist plots come to fruition. Federal agencies should work with platforms to identify and remove content glorifying the killing of innocent civilians. 

Online Radicalization Continues to Fuel Terrorist Violence 

Social media and other online content have a demonstrated role in radicalization. Since 2006, 118 people have been killed and more than 760 injured in the United States at the hands of Islamist-inspired terrorists. In many of these attacks, social media and online content played a role. The three highest-casualty terrorist attacks since 9/11—the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting, and 2025 New Orleans New Year’s attack—were all carried out by individuals who had been radicalized through the internet. The perpetrator of the New Orleans attack had shared songs and posted audio content to SoundCloud that promoted his extremist jihadi views. 

Sophie McDowall is a research associate for the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).