All posts by Marco Lombardi

Da‘wa, radicalizzazione e reclutamento: TikTok sempre più centrale negli arresti per terrorismo (Italian and English version) – by A. Bolpagni, G. L. Giardini

IS propaganda, Islamic State, propaganda, Terrorism, TikTok

Martedì 11 febbraio, la polizia olandese ha arrestato 16 persone nei Paesi Bassi con l’accusa di diffondere propaganda dello Stato Islamico (IS), glorificare il martirio e incitare ad attacchi terroristici online, in particolare su TikTok. Le indagini sono iniziate nell’agosto 2025, quando l’unità di polizia dell’Aia ha individuato un account TikTok che condivideva propaganda dello Stato Islamico sottotitolata in lingua olandese. Di conseguenza, le indagini sono state estese a livello nazionale e hanno portato all’arresto di 16 persone sparse in tutto il paese. Prima degli arresti di oggi, il 20 gennaio 2026, la polizia olandese aveva arrestato il principale sospettato dell’indagine, considerato il ‘leader’ del network. Di età compresa tra i 16 e i 53 anni, tra cui 4 minori, le persone detenute sono 3 cittadini olandesi e 13 siriani, che sono (dopo gli ucraini) il secondo gruppo di rifugiati più numeroso nei Paesi Bassi.

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La Fregola Artica – by Marco Lombardi

Security, ,

La Fregola Artica sembra quasi una notazione ornitologica (piuttosto che un appunto gastronomico), invece sottolinea solo una certa eccitazione intorno all’Artico che caratterizza in particolare questi mesi. In realtà della terra dei ghiacci se ne parla da anni, ma l’incertezza geopolitica, il processo di rischieramento delle potenze a livello globale, le minacciate “invasioni” di aree di territorio artico, il riposizionamento possibile della logistica, hanno drammatizzato la questione artica, portandola a livelli di emozione e fretta politica inusuale.

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SPOTREP: UK security alert over Russian espionage activities against NATO personnel – by Emilio Palmieri

Security, ,

INCIDENT

A few days ago, the UK authorities issued a notice highlighting Russian espionage efforts targeting NATO personnel hosted in a hotel located in the German city of Wiesbaden. The guesthouse is close to the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) headquarters at the US Army’s Clay Kaserne military base, which is a key hub for coordinating military support and logistics assisting Ukraine’s defense forces against Russia.

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19Nov/25

Mapping the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on TikTok: a brief overview – by G. L. Giardini and A. Bolpagni

IS propaganda, Islamic State, propaganda, Salafi-Jihadi groups, Terrorism, TikTok

From January 2025 to October 2025, G. L. Giardini and A. Bolpagni have been monitoring and analysing the presence of the pro-Islamic State (IS) ecosystem on TikTok, especially focusing on the dissemination of IS propaganda within the social network platform. Through day-by-day monitoring using Digital Human Intelligence (Digital HUMINT) techniques, more than 270 seed accounts have been identified. The latter, which are pro-IS accounts actively sharing propaganda material, have been functional to the reconstruction of a network characterised by more than 100,000 users. 

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17Nov/25

New research by ITSTIME fellows highlights role of Search Engines in making Terrorist content findable – by Miron Lakomy and Ali Fisher

Terrorism, , ,

The study, published in Security Journal, focuses on the role played by search engines in accessing Salafi-jihadi terrorist content on the surface web and beyond. It argues that due to the very nature of the World Wide Web, search engines may be exploited as primary gateways to harmful content, allowing followers of Salafi-jihadi violent extremist groups to find and law enforcement to detect crucial communication channels maintained by terrorist organisations easily.

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14Nov/25

“Make it Count”: The Terrorgram Timeline – by S. Lucini, A. Pugnana

propaganda, Terrorgram, Terrorism

Terrorgram collective is a loosely connected network that operates on Telegram through a net of different chats and channels that share extremist ideas. The main purpose was to promote accelerationism, neo-fascist and neo-nazi subcultures, the glorification of violence, and acts of terror by sharing propaganda with the aim to radicalise users into committing attacks. Terrorgram developed on Telegram starting in 2019, becoming the Terrorgram collective in 2021.

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07Ott/25

The “October 7” attacks:  the 1985 and 2023 terrorist operations and their aftermath – by Maria Alvanou

Security, , , ,

October 7th has been a turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict trajectory, with its aftermath mobilising and polarising millions of people all over the world, to support the Palestinian cause, while governments internationally seem to juggle between recognising the right of Israel to defend itself and recognising the right of Palestinians to exist also in safety. But there was another October 7th in the history of terrorism, that seems to have been forgotten, though it actually: the hijacking of Achille Lauro.

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