Grote calls for tough action
Islamic TikTok extremists are a major concern
April 12, 2024, 7:05 p.m
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They spread their Islamist propaganda primarily via social media such as TikTok. Hamburg’s Interior Senator Grote wants to take tough and decisive action against the new generation of Islamists.
With sharp cuts, Hamburg’s Interior Senator Andy Grote wants to stop Islamists who spread their propaganda primarily on social media such as the popular TikTok network. “We agree that, more than ever, there must be tough and decisive action against Islamic extremists and anti-Semitic agitation and propaganda in Germany,” said the SPD politician to the “Hamburger Wochen-Mopo”. This expressly included the review and implementation of further activity and association bans.
In this context, Grote referred to the “Muslim Interaktiv” group, which is active in Hamburg. To “Muslim Interaktiv’s” attempt to gain a foothold on Hamburg’s streets last fall against the background of the situation in the Middle East, “we responded with consistent law enforcement, including searches, and some social media channels were also switched off at the initiative of the security authorities “, he said.
Hamburg’s head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Torsten Voß, told “Welt am Sonntag” that the group “Muslim Interaktiv”, founded in March 2020, organizes demonstrations and is active on a wide range of social networks, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The group is close to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT). “According to the findings of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the association of ‘Muslim Interaktiv’ with the HuT’s ideological environment results, among other things, from the salaries of the people responsible for the social media presence, who also appear in video contributions for ‘Muslim Interaktiv’.”
Young Muslims are falling prey to groups en masse
Voß called it revealing that supporters of the group appeared with expensive sports cars and brand symbols, apparently in contradiction to an Islamist worldview. “But with all extremist groups there is always a bit of hypocrisy,” said Voß, referring to the “Muslim Interactive” demonstration in February last year. Women were expressly invited – Islamists then got upset about it on social networks. “During the demonstration, the women at the back were clearly separated from the men at the front,” said Voß.
Islamism expert Ahmad Mansour told the “Hamburger Wochen-Mopo” that young Muslims were falling prey to these groups in large numbers. There is a whole new generation of Islamists at work, “who move almost exclusively on social media and have a very professional appearance.” Clothing, language, video editing – everything is modern, hip, and tailored precisely to young people.
However, it is completely unclear whether there will actually be further club bans. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been monitoring the Islamic Center (IZH), which runs the Blue Mosque on the Alster, since the early 1990s. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the IZH as controlled by Iran and therefore extremist. There have been calls for closure for years. Most recently, dozens of properties in seven federal states were searched in connection with the IZH in mid-November 2023. However, there have been no further consequences so far.