Spanish authorities have arrested nine people in four cities as part of the crackdown against extremist messages calling for violence against the Euro 2024 tournament and the Paris Olympics.
Spain’s Civil Guard, in collaboration with Europol and the FBI, has dismantled one of the largest media networks linked to the so-called Islamic State.
According to Europol, servers were taken down in Germany, the Netherlands, Iceland and the US, with Spanish authorities arresting nine people.
The servers supported multiple media outlets linked to the so-called Islamic State, the European law enforcement agency said, and were used to disseminate global propaganda and messages capable of inciting terrorism in at least thirty languages.
The operation is part of a wider effort by judicial and law enforcement authorities across Europe to tackle online terrorist propaganda and communications, including through social media.
Europol reports that websites and communication channels, such as radio stations, a news agency, and social media content, had an international reach.
They disseminated directives and slogans of the so-called Islamic State in over thirty languages, including Spanish, Arabic, English, French, German, Danish, Turkish, Russian, Indonesian and Pashto.
According to files seen by Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, the network also published messages urging an attack on a bus carrying Real Madrid’s football players, as well as targeting the Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany and the Paris Olympics.
