UN Official Says Terrorists Are Using COVID to Inspire Extremism

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre meets in Riyadh prior to the pandemic. Source.

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than two million people worldwide, including four hundred thousand Americans, and adversely affected millions of others around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The pandemic has impacted practically all parts of our lives and societies, from skyrocketing unemployment rates, to a precipitous increase in mental health issues, to a holiday season where many were not able to see their loved ones. On top of all this chaos, other global evil has apparently found new ways to carry on.

Earlier this month, UN counter-terrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov warned of terrorists exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic and appealing to new “racially, ethnically and politically motivated extremist groups.” At every level, including university, local, state or national, the pandemic has brought adaptability and willingness to learn to the forefront of the skills we will need to move forward. Terrorists, such as those of Al-Qaida and the Islamic State, have done the same, "riding on the wave tops of polarization and hate speech amplified by the pandemic", according to the counter-terrorism chief. The virus has only accelerated our shift to the digital age and terrorists have pounced on digital opportunities, exploiting cyberspace and novel technologies, as well as coordinating with organized crime. Hate is easier to spread than ever before, with the terrorists appealing to more and more groups across the ideological spectrum.

COVID-19 has forced terrorists to modernize through the introduction of new challenges and acceleration of old ones. The pandemic alone, however, cannot be held responsible. There has undoubtedly been an increase in extremism in the United States, along with escalated rhetoric that has proved to turn violent, especially in the most extreme wings of our society. Hate crimes had increased to unprecedented levels in the United States, even before the pandemic. The 2019  New Zealand mosque shooting is an example of the increasing violent hate throughout the world - the result of a deranged white supremacist - which will only fuel terrorists. Terrorism and its presence under COVID-19 has drawn the attention of leaders around the world. 

James Cleverly, the Foreign Office Minister of State for the United Kingdom, urged the United Nations to focus on the “terrorist misuse of social media and other new technologies". Armed with a polarized world and fractured communities, terrorists will turn to social media and other platforms to organize their movements, a possible shift away from terrorist organization’s traditional methods of recruiting. Minister Cleverly, like Estonian Minister Juri Luik, warned of new types of security challenges, which will have both provided increased capabilities to terrorists and increased danger to civilians. 

Although the United Nations and its members seem to be in agreement that terrorism is as much of a threat as ever, the next step remains a topic of debate and possibly conflict. Both Cleverly and United States deputy ambassador Richard Mills pointed to human rights violations in China - specifically the government’s detention of Uighur Muslims - as counter-terrorim measures that were being used to oppress minorities and violate international human rights law. Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun vehemently disagreed and Russian Ambassador seemed to be in his corner, claiming the UN Security Council put “extra attention to rights aspects of countering terrorism to the detriment of priority security-related tasks.”

COVID-19 has shown us that terrorism will continue to evolve as both technology and hate evolve alongside it. Eradicating it will require effort and collaboration on part of the international community to curb the spread of terrorism and move into a decade where evil, no matter what the speed, leaves our soceity for good.