Militia extremists deploy strategies to work around social media crackdown, warns DHS
Violent anti-government extremists are developing communication strategies to circumvent recent clampdowns by the government and the tech industry in order to continue recruiting new members and promote their views online, according to a new confidential memo by the Department of Homeland Security.
The report, issued on Monday by the department's Office of Intelligence and Analysis and obtained by ABC News, warns that "some militia violent extremists (MVEs) are actively disguising their online social media outreach to promote violent anti-government narratives, connect with others espousing violent extremist views, and share tactical information by using layered communications," even as social media platforms like Facebook have taken action to mitigate those efforts.
Faced with tighter restrictions online, especially in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, militia groups have shifted to a "layered strategy" to recruit new members by starting conversations on popular, easy-to-access platforms and gradually shifting the discussions to more secure communication services, "such as private social media groups and encrypted applications," according to the DHS memo.
"Movement to these more secure channels helps MVEs filter or disguise online communications to protect operational security, avoid violating social media platforms' terms of service, and reserve detailed operational discussions for more secure platforms," the memo says.
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