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SoundCloud logo: One of the most famous online music platforms
Photo: LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP
Representatives of six European countries, including Germany, had Islamist and right-wing extremist audio propaganda removed from the Internet last week.
The international action was organized with the European police authority Europol and the music service provider SoundCloud, said the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on Friday in Wiesbaden.
The security authorities viewed the content of SoundCloud in the period from May 5th to 13th.
These were then checked for possible violations of the law.
Around 1,100 relevant content was reported to SoundCloud for deletion, it said, including "numerous songs glorifying violence" that were created or published by Islamist or right-wing extremist groups.
SoundCloud immediately deleted these titles.
In addition, measures had been taken "to identify the responsible users," said the BKA.
»Partly inhuman audio content«
Music is a popular medium for spreading extremist views.
Songs by well-known right-wing rock bands or Islamist chants, so-called nashids, can often be easily accessed on online platforms.
"This direct access to sometimes inhuman audio content can be an important factor in the self-radicalization of individuals," says the BKA, which worked together with authorities from Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and Great Britain on its project.
According to the BKA, the aim of the action was to "break through radicalization processes".
The deletion of extremist Internet propaganda is an important part of the Europe-wide counter-terrorism strategy, it said.
Founded in 2007, SoundCloud is one of the largest online music platforms in the world.
The company had already announced at the beginning of 2019 that 200 million songs had already been uploaded to its platform at that time.
pbe/AFP