Europol coordinates largest referral action targeting terrorist audio propaganda

(Europol) Europol has coordinated the largest Referral Action Day (RAD) to date targeting terrorist propaganda shared through audio content, resulting in the referral of 17 298 URLs across 40 online platforms. Combined, the audio content in these links represents more than 1 100 hours – the equivalent of 47 days of continuous listening. The operation focused on terrorist audio propaganda used by groups across the ideological spectrum, including jihadist and violent right-wing extremist networks. The RAD was initiated and co-led by Hungary and Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU), bringing together specialised investigators from 13 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Investigators collected the content in the weeks leading up to the action and carried out extensive deconfliction checks to ensure that referrals would not interfere with ongoing investigations. On 3 March, the URLs were referred to online service providers for assessment against their terms of service. So far, 77% of the content has been removed. The suspected terrorist content included speeches from designated terrorist leaders, songs praising violent acts, and nashids – Islamic chants frequently used in jihadist propaganda. – Europol coordinates largest referral action targeting terrorist audio propaganda – 1 100 hours of online terrorist and extremist propaganda talks and chants targeted | Europol