Glitterpill at the United Nations Meeting for Countering Terrorist Narratives
Introduction
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, and participants. I wish to thank our colleagues and partners at the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate for the invitation to take part in this important meeting, and I wish to thank my fellow panelists for their astute insights.
My name is Samantha Kutner. I am the Chief Intelligence Officer and co-founder of Glitterpill LLC, a project lead at the Khalifa Ihler Institute, Glitterpill’s partner NGO, and a subject matter expert on the transnational extremist organization, the Proud Boys.
At Glitterpill and the Khalifa Ihler Institute, we define violent extremism as the violent denial of diversity. This ideologically and geographically agnostic definition allows us to approach the issue of violent extremism with an appreciation for the complex global threat landscape. It is based on observed behaviors and narratives.
As part of my applied counter-narrative efforts, I’ve helped facilitate the disengagement of Proud Boys in the course of ethnographic research with members. I’ve also gotten a leading alt-right figure, Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA to denounce white supremacy in front of his massive following as part of campus resilience and de-escalation efforts.
Before his arrest, Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman and I explored a communications strategy which aimed to create an offramp for those seeking to disengage from extremist groups. In 2020, after years of witnessing members refuse to take responsibility for their actions, Tarrio was beginning to grasp the need for emotional labor, which he was not capable of sustaining alone. Building this off ramp sought to offer comprehensive, educational content that acknowledged male grievances without misattributing them to an 'out' group and serve as a compelling counter-narrative for Proud Boys members looking to break away.
For more than five years, I’ve engaged with media outlets to enhance ethical and responsible coverage of groups like the Proud Boys and decentralized extremist networks tied to conspiratorial content. In my work, I apply a deep ethnographic context to examining the rhetorical strategies deployed by bad faith actors.
As Glitterpill LLC's Chief Intelligence Officer, I lead a team focused on comprehending the regional and qualitative aspects of emerging threats.
Since last year’s UN-CTED meeting, Glitterpill LLC and Khalifa Ihler have publicly engaged in several efforts:
We've highlighted the evolution of key conspiracist and white supremacist talking points that have been increasingly adopted by anti-vaccination groups and right-wing parties in the run-up to the October 14th, 2023 general election in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We’ve countered terrorist narratives by eliciting a response from the leader of a failed accelerationist terrorism project.
We've provided tactical advice to event organizers, performers, activists, and community members to help them plan safer events for the LGBTQI+ community.
We’ve provided context on the Canadian justice system’s first individual case of terrorism driven by far-right ideology.
We aim to continue our efforts by uncovering new trends and narratives in extremist communities and prevent their harmful impacts.
Our Chief Intelligence Officer, Samantha Kutner, giving her statement to the United Nations
Introduction to our Company
At Glitterpill, we believe data makes the violent denial of diversity visible. We provide actionable intelligence, data, analysis, and consulting services. These networks often target infrastructure and misuse services for coordination, recruitment, spreading propaganda, and inciting others to violence. We understand this to not be a one and done process, but as a continuous effort that requires ongoing mitigation.
Our work is underpinned by a behavior-based model for understanding and analyzing violence-inducing decentralized networks of extremist actors. Our model facilitates strategic network disruptions, which slows online extremist networks’ momentum as they try to rebuild their online presence across less regulated platforms. These are often unconventional actors who might not yet be recognized by UN designated lists.
Our approach enables us to connect online activity to specific events and extended networks of extremist actors, enhances our ability to predict potential hotspots of extremist activity, and our ability to provide timely and actionable intelligence to our clients. Through this approach, Glitterpill has contributed to more effective policy and enforcement strategies within some of the world's largest companies and kept their assets and clients safe.
Having worked in advisory and consulting capacities with corporate and governmental stakeholders, Glitterpill LLC’s team is uniquely suited to develop globally applicable, comprehensive strategy and policy responses to the evolving threat of terrorism.
We are building the capacity to monitor the effect of counter-narratives in media ecosystems of interest. This is made possible through new partnerships formed during recent events like Eradicate Hate Global Summit. It is essential to understand how companies can responsibly manage and balance the challenges we’ll describe below.
2023 & 2024 Challenges To Countering Terrorist Narratives
No company wants to facilitate war crimes or inadvertently provide material support to a terrorist organization.
However, companies may be hesitant to engage with concerning online behaviors for fear of tarnishing their reputation. Their reluctance often arises from a desire to maintain a positive public image, avoid alienating their user base or displeasing their stakeholders. At the same time, taking a stance on controversial issues can lead to backlash from different segments of their audience, making it a delicate balancing act. Nonetheless, this does not absolve companies of their responsibility to prevent harmful actions facilitated through their services.
As long as power imbalances exist, there will be asymmetric conflict. As long as our technologies connect people, there will be a need to prevent their exploitation by those who seek to promote the violent denial of diversity. These are fundamental human issues that require a collective, comprehensive, and multi-pronged approach. This approach should combine technological innovation, regulatory oversight, and societal vigilance.
Addressing this issue demands regional expertise and human intelligence. These two components are vital for safeguarding our diverse society and promoting true free speech on social media.
What moral and ethical obligations do social media companies have to the world? What obligations or incentives does the tech world have in preventing the spread of harmful content, facilitating harmful discourse, and enabling and empowering terrorist and violent extremist actors? These are central questions that have been asked throughout multiple far-right terrorist attacks, the rise of ISIL and the recent escalations in Gaza.
Several measures have been implemented to address this issue. These include internal actions within larger, responsive companies and the establishment of organizations like Glitterpill LLC. Global platforms such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, the Christchurch Call, and Tech Against Terrorism. Despite these efforts, the challenge remains and continues to grow in complexity.
We have seen a quest for legitimacy among groups like the Proud Boys, who have attempted to embed themselves in charity and humanitarian aid efforts.
Last month on the podcast Smart Women, Smart Power I explained these actions aim to make communities feel more dependent on far right extremist groups,thereby reducing their likelihood to denounce their actions targeting school boards, drag queen story hour events, and targeting those who provide abortion access. The Christian nationalist underpinnings of restricting abortion access and their ties to the bombing of abortion clinics are clear, not through a deep study of ideology, but through visibly seeing networks of overlapping membership across different groups, events, and platforms and time periods. After January 6th, many charity and humanitarian aid organizations in America understood this historical context; as a result, this tactic by Proud Boys has had limited success.
A useful parallel to this tactic can be drawn from the international sphere, with groups such as Hamas, which is still recognized as a political entity in certain contexts. While the UN has not officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, it is essential to note that this group has also been known to involve itself in social service provision and community integration efforts, similar to what we observe with the far-right extremist groups in the United States.
This comparison is not meant to label or condemn Palestinians fighting for liberation, but rather to illustrate the complexity of Hamas’s strategies and their efforts to blend into communities they operate within. In the face of disinformation campaigns and the spread of genocidal rhetoric against Muslims and Jews, we must not underestimate the role of legacy media and talk radio, which contributed to the murder of a 6 year old Palestinian boy in Chicago and is currently being investigated as a hate crime. We need to ensure that our response to the exploitation of social media platforms is nuanced and human-centered, and can distinguish between documentation of war crimes and endorsement of terrorism or glorification of violence.
To address these gray areas, a network approach to understand the relationship between online and offline behaviors is needed. We also need to protect the safety and anonymity of human rights defenders, so warning the public and providing valuable intelligence does not immediately paint them as targets.
It is up to organizations like GIFCT, Glitterpill LLC, ISD, Cinder, Active Fence, CRISP Tech Against Terrorism Prose Intelligence and the collective expertise to help provide external guidance to EU regulators in a way that provides a clear path for companies to conduct due diligence. This guidance is essential for companies and will come from supporting the independent organizations responsible for enforcing and implementing these regulations.
There exists a gap between the resources allocated and those needed to efficiently enforce digital regulations. By funding our organizations, not only can companies and EU regulators empower us all to provide the necessary external guidance and expertise, but they can also help bridge the resource gap. This collective support will ensure the efficient enforcement of regulations and contribute to a safer digital environment. Thus, this call to action is not merely for financial support but an invitation to join in the creation of a more just, secure digital future.
Through our unique approach, Glitterpill and our non-profit NGO partner the Khalifa Ihler Institute, are uniquely positioned to assist the UN, member states and the wider community of stakeholders. We look forward to continuing our work understanding specific behaviors, facilitating network disruption, and ensuring the safety and anonymity of human rights defenders.
We have created a list of additional recommendations you can view on our website, along with today’s full written statement at glitterpill.io.
Thank you very much. I yield the floor back to you.
Recommendations To UN-CTED
Statement on Countering Terrorist Narratives
In our efforts to counter terrorist narratives, it is crucial to address several key aspects that have emerged from recent discussions:
Gender Supremacy and Aggrieved Male Entitlement: Extremist ideologies often exploit and perpetuate gender supremacy and aggrieved male entitlement. Recognizing and challenging these toxic narratives is essential to dismantling terrorist ideologies.
Accountable and Responsible Journalism: The media plays a vital role in preventing the manipulation of public perception by extremist groups. Journalists must prioritize responsible reporting, ensuring that their coverage does not inadvertently amplify terrorist narratives or erode journalism’s trust as an institution.
Tracking and Understanding Extremist Networks: A comprehensive understanding of extremist networks and their tactics is crucial in countering terrorist narratives. Efforts should focus on effective tracking and analysis of these networks to anticipate and respond to their activities.
Stronger Action by Social Media Platforms: Social media platforms have a responsibility to take stronger action against terrorist content and narratives. Robust content moderation and enforcement policies should be implemented to prevent the dissemination of extremist propaganda. This will come from relying on expert organizations to operationally define terms and set parameters so companies better understand their obligations to comply.
Accountability and Investments in Countering Extremism: Governments and relevant stakeholders must prioritize accountability and investments in countering extremism. This includes allocating resources to initiatives aimed at countering terrorist narratives, disrupting extremist networks and promoting alternative, positive narratives.
The Complicity of Social Media Platforms: There is growing concern about the potential complicity of social media platforms in enabling war crimes and acts of violence. Addressing this issue requires close scrutiny and proactive measures to prevent the misuse of these platforms for extremist purposes.
Terrorism and Online Platforms and Communication Channels: The intersection of terrorism and online platforms necessitates the involvement and responsibility of tech giants. These platforms must actively contribute to countering terrorist narratives and combating the spread of extremist content. This includes talk radio, which has since contributed to the radicalization of one individual who murdered a 6 year old because of an embrace of dehumanizing conspiratorial content.
Actions by Governments and International Organizations: The actions taken by governments and international organizations, such as the United Nations, play a significant role in countering terrorist narratives. Coordinated efforts, policies, and collaborations are essential in addressing the global challenge of terrorism.
Consequences for Providing Material Support: Individuals and organizations providing material support to extremist entities must face legal consequences. By holding them accountable, we deter the financing and facilitation of terrorism.
Challenges in Distinguishing Actors: Distinguishing between different actors within nations, such as oligarchs, can be challenging. It is crucial to consider these complexities when countering terrorist narratives effectively.
By addressing these key points, we can develop a comprehensive strategy for countering terrorist narratives and creating a safer, more resilient society.
Reach out to us if you would like to become part of comprehensive efforts to counter violent extremism.
