Extremists use BBC theme to trick Facebook into showing vile clips

Almost all of Abu Haleema’s videos have been removed
Almost all of Abu Haleema’s videos have been removed

Extremists are using a BBC theme tune to avoid security measures on social media and post clips of beheadings and suicide bombings.

Islamic State networks are deploying several tricks to evade the software that technology giants use to look for extremist content, including using odd punctuation in their posts and disguising graphic videos with initially neutral clips, including a remix of the BBC News signature tune.

Experts fear that such methods mean that members of terrorist groups are starting to reappear on platforms such as Facebook, after years of them being in effect stamped out.

Terrorist networks hide behind TV theme tunes such as the BBC News
Terrorist networks hide behind TV theme tunes such as the BBC News

Moustafa Ayad, deputy director of international technology, communications and education at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), said: “There are micro Isis networks appearing with some frequency that are gaming