Want to get in the mood for jihad? Looking for some inspiration for violence?
Maybe just looking for music to terrorize by?
Never fear. There are hundreds of music videos on YouTube meant to recruit and inspire jihad, reports the Middle East Media Research Institute.
MEMRI cited as an example a playlist posted under the name SalafiJihadism that has nearly 150 videos, including one that is nearly two hours long.
The playlist already has been viewed thousands of times.
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Alberto Fernandez, MEMRI vice president, wrote that while social media outlets around the world are making progress in "policing" content that encourages terrorism, plenty of dangerous content remains.
"Social media still have a lot of material which, while not being the latest, most high-profile, or branded content issuing from ISIS, sends precisely the same message. This content ranges from religious sermons promoting the Salafi jihadi world view to music."
He said the problem is obvious.
"It is unclear what qualifications and criteria vetting committees actually use and how they are prepared to perform the task [of limiting such material] – given the clearly labeled origin and thrust of words and images promoting organizations that are at this very moment carrying out mass murder, rape, and destruction on an industrial scale – both perpetrating heinous, criminal acts and boasting about it," he wrote.
"Just like finding playlists on YouTube of certain genres of music or a certain artist, group or composer, any user can also listen to hours of jihadi music videos replete with images of fighting, glorification of terrorist leaders and organizations, and outright support of [foreign terror organizations] such as ISIS or Hamas. These playlists are homemade productions, likely put together by youthful enthusiasts, and relying on individuals posting videos who use names like '1 Khilafah Production,' 'Son of Bosnia' and 'WegZumParadiesNr3,'" Fernandez reported.
"Many of the videos are promoted with labels such as 'the splendid Jihadis Nasheed (song)' or 'most beautiful encouraging jihadis video,'" he explained.
Mostly in Arabic, there are some that have appeared with English subtitles.
He explained that YouTube periodically removes some videos, "but others, supposedly less objectionable ones but still promoting an organization that beheads, slaughters, crucifies, and encourages others to do the same, remain in place."
"Many of the remaining songs are indeed just Salafi songs promoting the Salafi Islamist religious worldview without an overt connection to existing terrorist groups," he said.
A YouTube spokeswoman told WND, "YouTube has clear policies prohibiting content intended to incite violence, and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users."
Fernandez explained YouTube's policy requires that it consider whether or not certain content is inappropriate only after "motivated private individuals" issue a complaint.
"There may well be gray areas where free-speech concerns should come into play. But given the sheer quantity of overt material blatantly supporting the ideology of designated FTOs, we have not yet even begun to reach that sensitive zone," he said.
Here's an example, with English subtitles:
And this is without:
Fernandez said the European Union "recently announced a special referral unit at Europol to fast-track the removal of online content that glorifies acts of terrorism, but this is a daunting task."
The videos almost always include violent images and words.
One list, he explained, "evincing a more juvenile vibe and just titled 'Popular Videos – Jihad & Nasheed,' has 200 songs and is even wider in its scope, beginning the playlist with a jaunty tune from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) before continuing with hymns glorifying the fight in Chechnya and Syria."
"Images of Osama bin Laden, Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, ISIS commander Abu Omar Al-Shishani, and others are frequent," MEMRI said. "Horses, swords, guns, and lions abound. As often happens with mashups, a song is matched with images taken from other media including popular movies (the 2005 Ridley Scott production 'Kingdom of Heaven' being a particular favorite). One jihadi song incongruously uses the American bald eagle as an image to promote its cause."
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