The Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) of the Ministry of the Interior has coordinated the participation of the Spanish Security Forces in a Europol operation that has managed to detect and remove 120 contents from the internet that promote the use of chemical substances high risk to commit terrorist attacks.
The device, directed by Europol’s Internet Reference Unit (IRU) and in which ten European police officers and seven others from other countries have participated, concluded on February 21 after several weeks of searching for this type of risky content both online and in digital forums, including the dark web, an area of ??the internet that is not indexed and is only accessible through specific search engines.
The chemicals that the device has focused on are legally marketed for use in industrial or professional processes, but mixing them with other products can produce hazardous materials that could be used to carry out chemical terrorist attacks.
The researchers from the specialized units in the fight against terrorism that have participated in the device have managed to identify up to 120 digital files that included propaganda from violent and radicalized groups and instructions on the use of these high-risk chemical materials and toxic gases. that generate.
These 120 contents were produced in five different languages ??and had been disseminated by jihadist terrorism support networks and other radicalized and violent extremist groups, which used the platforms of 21 online service providers.
Europol has obtained from these supplier companies the withdrawal of this content for violating their own terms and conditions of service offered to users, and has proposed that they strengthen their moderation protocols to avoid this type of situation in the future.
CITCO, as the competent Spanish authority for the removal of terrorist content on the Internet, has coordinated the participation of the National Police, Civil Guard, Ertzaintza and Mossos d’Esquadra in the device together with police experts from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France , Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and the Slovak Republic. In addition, police officers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and the United Kingdom have participated.
The purpose of these types of devices is to facilitate the removal of illegal content from the Internet, help platforms to detect their own vulnerabilities and reinforce cooperation between authorities and service providers, within the framework of strict respect for the fundamental rights of users. from Internet.
The results of this device will be incorporated into the analysis of the current situation of the terrorist threat in terms of the use of high-risk chemical substances, as well as in the impact assessment prepared by the European Commission.
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