Terrorist and extremist chants used to woo recruits – focus of latest Europol Referral Action Day

Between 5 and 13 May, a large-scale Referral Action Day targeting terrorist and extremist audio content online took place involving Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) and six countries. 

In collaboration with the music entertainment company SoundCloud, the participating countries and the ECTC’s European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU-IRU) detected and assisted the company to scour illegally uploaded jihadist, right wing terrorist and violent extremist propaganda.

Some 1 100 profiles and audio files assessed as illegal were flagged to SoundCloud. Upon review, SoundCloud deleted the reported files that were considered a breach of its terms and conditions. 

Among the referred content were jihadist chants in several languages as well as audio fragments promoting violent and right wing extremist groups. Some of these materials had already amassed several thousand hits and audio streams.

The action was put in motion by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) and the EU IRU, with the involvement of law enforcement authorities from Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

This referral action day is part of an ongoing public-private partnership between SoundCloud, law enforcement agencies and Europol aiming at addressing the terrorist abuse of the internet, preventing online radicalisation and safeguarding fundamental rights.