Europol has published the third edition of its annual report on Online Jihadist Propaganda. This report analyses the major trends and developments in online propaganda of major jihadist organisations for 2020. The European Counter Terrorism Centre’s European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) prepared this threat assessment report. The EU IRU utilized primary sources, including the terrorist organizations’ publications, videos and audio speeches.
The report analyses the trends related to Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ). It looks at how these organizations have adapted to global changes after receiving considerable setback in 2020. The EU IRU found that after a year of IS’s military defeat, the organization has suffered infrastructural and personnel loss. Due to this, their media outreach has been limited in 2020. However, IS still maintains an online presence through its supporter (munasir) networks. AQ also faced some important setbacks in 2020 in the form of the loss of some significant senior leaders. Still, AQ continues to leverage current events to advance its propaganda.
Overall, the report finds that the risk of online jihadist propaganda transforming into ground violence is still high. This is because the online propaganda machinery of both the terrorist organizations tries to recruit lone actors who have no physical connections to them.
Source: Europol