Alleged Jihadist From Malaga Has Reached Thousands of Followers on TikTok

No less than 16 TikTok accounts created by the 45-year-old Moroccan arrested in Malaga for alleged terrorism were closed by the social network itself due to the nature of the content he published there. Among these publications, the man praised Daesh figures in videos in which he incited suicide attacks and terrorist violence. According to the security forces in charge of the investigation, he particularly praised attacks like the one perpetrated on March 22 in a Moscow concert hall, during which more than 140 people lost their lives and hundreds of people were injured.

Mohamed M, who lives in the Nuevo San Andrés neighborhood of Malaga, is said to have led a double life. On the surface, he seemed like a normal person who went to work and followed a quiet routine. However, according to the investigation team, he was immersed in a deep process of radicalization. So much so that, according to the authorities, he considered himself “an authentic virtual mujahideen” who promoted jihad through words.

To do this, the suspect would have used TikTok, the social network popular with young people, and encrypted instant messaging, through which he would have indoctrinated people in favor of jihadist theories. He ran direct and different channels whose sole objective was to broadcast self-published jihadist content from official Daesh propaganda channels. According to investigators, his messages reached thousands of followers via the Internet.

According to the Guardia Civil, Mohamed M had experience in the terrorist organization's decentralized media strategy and used more than 20 specialized editing software programs to create the content that he then disseminated on his social networks.

Many of his posts ended up going viral. He allegedly disseminated dossiers on ideological and dogmatic figures of Daesh, such as Abu Ali al-Anbari, who played an important role in the military structure of the organization, as well as content inciting violence, such as Daesh suicide bombings in conflict zones or terrorist attacks such as those committed in Moscow.