Pinterest Users Circulate Extremist Visuals, Videos And Ideas

August 14, 2017

The popular platform Pinterest, which allows users to "pin" (share) ideas, articles, images, and videos to themed boards, has users who are circulating extremist content on the site. The San Francisco-based platform is open to anyone who is at least 13 years of age.

Pinterest's mission statement reads: "At Pinterest, our mission is to help you discover and do what you love. That means showing you ideas that are relevant, interesting and personal to you, and making sure you don't see anything that's inappropriate or spammy." One portion of the platform's community guidelines states: "It's okay to save historic and newsworthy Pins or stuff that raises awareness for current events. We may hide this content from public places so people don't run into it accidentally. We remove anything that glorifies violence, and we don't allow Pins that show violent or gory things for no good reason." Under its disclaimer section, Pinterest states: "Unfortunately, people post bad stuff on user-generated content sites like Pinterest. We take that kind of thing seriously but you still might run into it before we have a chance to take it down. If you see bad stuff, please report it to us."

Users on Pinterest have shared YouTube links to sermons by extremist preachers such as Anwar Al-'Awlaki, Ahmad Musa Jibril, and pro-Islamic State (ISIS) clerics such as Abu Baraa and Musa Cerantonio. In addition, many graphics featuring quotes by the ISIS-linked group Invite To Islam are featured on boards throughout the site.

It should also be noted that on August 8, 2017, a graphic was circulated on pro-ISIS Telegram channels such as Al-Baraa's Al-Hifawi, which encouraged ISIS activists to use a plethora of platforms in addition to Telegram. The Pinterest logo is featured in this graphic.

Al-Baraa's Al-Hifawi Telegram channel.

 

Videos Of Extremist Preachers

There are a few videos of sermons by the pro-ISIS cleric Abu Baraa that are circulated on Pinterest. One user has a board titled "Islam" that features eight lectures by the incarcerated cleric.

One user shared a sermon by Musa Cerantonio. Musleh commented: "Sheikh Musa Cerantonio, Mashallah is the one who started it all for me!"

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