Violence and Security

FRA Director: Migration Is Not a Security Issue

January 10, 2018

In testimony to the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Terrorism, Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights Michael O'Flaherty called for governments to adhere to a human rights-centered policy of combating terrorism and "warned against framing migration as a security issue."
Virgin Trains Boycotts Newspaper over Editorial Views

January 10, 2018

PR Week reports that the British company Virgin Trains (VT) has announced it will stop offering copies of the newspaper The Daily Mail on its trains, finding that the opinions of the editorial columns in the newspaper "on issues such as immigration, LGBT rights, and unemployment" are "not compatible with the VT brand and our beliefs."
FBI Chief Says "Lone Wolves" Are Key 2018 Terror Threat

January 08, 2018

The Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified lone-wolf attacks by homegrown Islamists, indoctrinated via online propaganda, as the priority domestic threat for 2018.
Boko Haram Heralds Christmas Attacks on Nigerian Christians

January 08, 2018

The leader of one faction of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, whose moniker means "Western education is a sin," began the new year with a declaration claiming responsibility for a series of Christmas attacks targeting the country’s Christians, underscoring the resilience of the East African jihadi group committed to expanding sharia law throughout the region.
US Freeze on Military Aid to Pakistan Focuses on Haqqani Links

January 08, 2018

The US decision to suspend military assistance to Pakistan pending Islamabad’s crackdown on Islamist extremist groups was focused on linkages between Pakistani security-intelligence forces with the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal Islamist terror groups in South Asia.
Pakistan’s Support for Islamism Poses Major Geopolitical Risks

January 08, 2018

Expansive evidence of support from Pakistan’s military and intelligence services for Islamist ideological projects and jihadi terrorist groups has prompted the US to rethink its strategic policy toward Pakistan, with past and current Administration officials advocating a combination of diplomatic, economic, and covert steps to roll back Islamabad’s Islamist extremism.
Islamist Movements Had Mixed Results in 2017

January 08, 2018

Islamist movements originating in the Mideast had a record of mixed results in 2017, suffering several major losses in territorial control but experiencing steady globalization of networks and activities with increased operations of Islamist political parties, jihadi militant groups, and Islamist terror organizations in Africa, Europe, and America.
French President Proposes Law to Halt "Fake News"

January 04, 2018

Politico reports that French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed new rules permitting judges to order social media platforms to take down "fake news" and to delete user accounts and block websites that disseminate such false or misleading stories.
UK Official Seeks Tax Incentives for Removal of Terrorist Content

January 04, 2018

Reuters reports that UK Minister of State for Security Ben Wallace has called on the government to consider imposing higher taxes on tech companies like Google and Facebook if they fail to delete content on their platforms aimed at radicalizing users and encouraging them to perpetrate acts of terror.
Germany Investigates MP for Online "Hate Speech"

January 03, 2018

The Guardian reports that, after social media platforms Facebook and Twitter submitted to a German law on online "hate speech" by temporarily suspending the accounts of German Member of Parliament (MP) Beatrix Von Storch for an anti-Muslim post, the German state prosecutor is investigating the MP for "incitement to hatred."