Messages appearing on secret online chat rooms from supposed ISIS fanatics are encouraging terror attacks on major sporting events in the UK.
The Champions League Final, which is being held at Wembley in London on Saturday, June 1, is thought to be one of the targets according to people using the Matrix.org network. There have reportedly been numerous messages from ISIS supporters urging others to prepare weapons and "devise your plan and then lure them in".
Among the game between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Germany's Borussia Dortmund, other targets include the Olympic Games in Paris, the Euros in Germany later this summer and next month's T20 World Cup cricket tournament in the West Indies and USA. Pro terrorism groups have taken advantage of the system to share their sickening messages, with some telling people to take part in lone-wolf attacks with knives, guns and vehicles on Jewish people.
The messages, which took place on a network run by West London-based company Matrix.org. are now being investigated, the Express reports. In one message, artwork depicting a homemade explosive drone above Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu football stadium was captioned: "If they constrict and oppress you on the ground then strike them from the sky.”
Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in North London was also another stadium mentioned in the messages, with one user sharing an image of the stadium with blood spots splattered over it. Another image shows Jihadi fighters in front of Athletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitana stadium with the slogan: “If both teams aim to win the game, then you shall aim to win Jannah [Islamic paradise] by killing them and killing their fans.”
Professor Dr. Christian Kaunert, Chair of Policing and Security at University of South Wales, said: “I would imagine this is a very, very high risk summer with a number of high profile events happening from the European Football Championships to the Olympic Games in Paris. The current anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli climate makes a much more fruitful environment for ISIS to radicalise people as they try to outdo Hamas.”
The users who posted the pro-ISIS content listed their terror skills online, including boasts about handling AK47 rifles, as well as mentioning sums of money in pounds - leading to claims they are based in Britain. After the company, which was founded by Cambridge University graduate Matthew Hodgson and colleague Amandine Le Pape, was made aware of the disturbing events on their network they immediately closed down the chatrooms concerned and flagged it with the authorities.
The network was originally created to help people create their own platforms to communicate on the internet securely. Its services have been used by the French government and German Military to build private online communication networks. Founder Mr Hodgson said: "Just like the web, 99% of Matrix usage is for positive or benign reasons. It’s really sickening when we see a tiny minority of people use Matrix with ill-intent. The Matrix.org Foundation utterly abhors terrorism, and we explicitly forbid it on the Matrix servers that we operate. We also coordinate with the authorities as required by UK law.”
Sarah Atherton MP, member of the Defence Select Committee, added: "Decentralised, highly encrypted technology is a step forward for personal and state privacy. However it doesn’t taken a genius to see this technology could be used for nefarious purposes, including terrorism.
"Governments need to coordinate on modernised legal frameworks to provide moral boundaries, whilst firms and ‘non-profits’ developing these technologies need to be mandated to implement strategies, reporting and investigative techniques to ensure their product becomes a force for good, not for evil. This is an illustration of evil and pure hate, and has no place in our society, decentralised or otherwise.”
Tobias Ellwood MP said: “We are increasingly focused on Russian state aggression but non state dangers have not disappeared [and] indeed [groups] are taking advantage of how distracted we are to find ever cleverer ways of recruiting and indoctrinating UK nationals right under our noses. ISIS is clearly accessing online sites to spread their extremist message and potentially encourage further violent attacks."
Former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois added: “Under the Online Harms Act, OFCOM have strong powers to investigate potential internet misuse, including against young people, who might be radicalised by such vile activity. OFCOM should now be asked to get to the bottom of this - and the sooner the better.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “There should be no safe spaces for terrorists to promote or share their extreme views and we continue to work closely with the tech sector, law enforcement and our international partners to suppress terrorist exploitation of the internet.”