Eye on Extremism - June 24, 2016

Eye on Extremism June 24, 2016 Counter Extremism Project MSNBC: New Technology Fights Online Extremism “Dr. Hany Farid recently teamed up with the Counter Extremism Project to develop new technology to help Internet companies detect terrorist images and videos and remove them.” The Economist: Halting The Hate “An earlier version of the technology, called ‘PhotoDNA’, has already been successfully deployed to remove child pornography from social-media sites but is able to create hashes only for photographs. Working with the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a non-profit organisation, Dr Farid has been able to extend robust hashing to video and audio files. Dr Farid has not published his work. The reason for that is he fears it would help people to try to circumvent the technology or allow repressive regimes to use it to suppress dissent. Instead, he and the CEP hope to set up the National Office for Reporting Extremism (NORex). This body would help maintain a database of extremist imagery and assign robust hashes to the most brutal or dangerous.” WBUR: Using New Technologies To Fight ISIS Online “The web has become one of the most powerful tools today used by terrorist networks like the Islamic State, or ISIS. Two researchers — physicist Neil Johnson and computer scientist Hany Farid — are among the many to come out with new technologies aimed at understanding and stopping terrorists using the internet. Johnson, with the University of Miami, has used an algorithm to analyze how ISIS and their sympathizers interact digitally. Farid, with Dartmouth College and the nonpartisan policy group Counter Extremism Project, created a way to make it easier to scrub terrorist propaganda from the web. They join Here & Now's Robin Young to talk about their work.” Vocativ: This Algorithm Could Wipe Out ISIS Propaganda Online “Hany Farid, a computer scientist at Dartmouth College, has developed a software algorithm that he claims will allow platforms like Facebook and Twitter to identify content created by the Islamic State and similar extremist groups and their supporters—and automatically eliminate them from their sites. The software, unveiled last week, is modeled off a successful child-porn detection technology that Farid created several years ago, and which some social media companies already use. Farid told Vocativ that his new algorithm has been tested ‘extensively’ and is in its final stages. He has teamed up with the Counter Extremist Project (CEP), a non-profit think thank, to create a database of extremist content online that Farid’s technology can then identify and remove from social media platforms.” Yahoo News Feature: Tara Maller, Fight Extremism Tara Maller of The Counter Extremism Project discusses a new initiative to detect and block online terror recruitment. CNN: Poll: Concern About Terrorist Attack At Highest Level Since 2003 “Americans are more likely to think terrorist attacks in the U.S. are imminent now than at any point since 2003, according to a CNN/ORC Poll conducted after a shooting in Orlando that ranks as the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Overall, 71% say further acts of terrorism are very or somewhat likely in the United States over the next several weeks. Americans' concerns about domestic terror are more focused on so-called ‘lone-wolf’ attacks carried out by individuals who say they have been inspired by a terrorist group rather than attacks organized and supported by terrorist groups themselves.” USA Today: Official Describes Chilling Video Of Orlando Nightclub Attack “In the midst of the brutal assault inside Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, security cameras captured Omar Mateen, a powerful assault rifle perched at hip level, firing indiscriminately into crowds of patrons, a federal law enforcement official said Thursday. The official, who has viewed a compilation of video clips, said some victims can be seen falling to the floor, while other patrons appear frozen or possibly confused by the frenzy unfolding around them. At some points, the 29-year-old gunman also can be seen firing at victims who have already fallen, said the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly. The disclosures offer an increasingly chilling account of the massacre, building on the release earlier this week of partial transcripts of Mateen's telephone contacts with police dispatchers and crisis negotiators while holed up in a bathroom after the initial attack.” BBC: Syria Conflict: US-Backed Forces 'Enter IS-Held Manbij' “A US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has reportedly advanced into a strategically important Syrian town held by so-called Islamic State. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were heavy clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces and IS militants on the outskirts of Manbij. The SDF began an offensive to take the town on 31 May, quickly encircling it. Manbij sits on an intersection of roads linking the IS stronghold of Raqqa to the Turkish border and Aleppo province.” Click On Detroit: FBI Hunts ISIS Doctor From Mid-Michigan “The FBI is investigating a young man from the Flint area for supporting ISIS and working as a doctor for the terror group. Mohamed Maleeh Masha, 24, of Flushing, is at the center of a terror investigation as an alleged ISIS sympathizer. Flushing is northwest of Flint. The Detroit News found a sealed FBI search warrant posted online showing that agents were tracking Masha from his family’s home in Flushing to Syrai. The warrant was taken down soon after that.” Daily Caller: Iranian Money Could Be Behind The Taliban’s Big Gains In Afghanistan “Iranian recruitment of Afghan citizens for the Syrian battlefield is depriving the Afghan National Security Forces potential recruits to fuel the war against the Taliban, NATO officials told the Stars and Stripes. The practice fulfills two Iranian strategic priorities, it provides valuable soldiers to the Assad regime on the Syrian battlefield and it prolongs NATO involvement in Afghanistan. NATO is committed to supporting the Afghan defense forces against the Taliban, and has pledged to keep giving them billions of dollars until 2020. Iran has been heavily recruiting from the western province of Herat, which reportedly has some of the lowest Afghan defense recruitment numbers in the entire country. ‘If Afghanistan recruiting command can’t keep pace, that’s a problem,’ U.S. Army Colonel Steve Lutsky told Stars and Stripes.” BBC: Nigeria Boko Haram: Scores Of Refugees Starved To Death – MSF “Nearly 200 refugees fleeing Boko Haram militants have starved to death over the past month in Bama, Nigeria, the medical charity MSF says. A ‘catastrophic humanitarian emergency’ is unfolding at a camp it visited where 24,000 people have taken refuge. Many inhabitants are traumatised and one in five children is suffering from acute malnutrition, MSF says. The Islamist group's seven-year rebellion has left 20,000 people dead and more than two million displaced. Nigeria's military has carried out a large-scale offensive against them but Boko Haram still attacks villages in the north-east, destroying homes and burning down wells.” Associated Press: Residents Say Al-Qaida Has Returned To Southern Yemen Cities “Witnesses say that al-Qaida fighters have been seen in southern Yemeni cities, nearly a month after the militants withdrew from the towns following tribal-led negotiations. Local residents reported Thursday that al-Qaida militants were seen in the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan province. They say that during the day fighters can be seen driving pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, but at night they retreat to hideouts. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Al-Qaida and Islamic State group militants have exploited the security and power vacuum after rebels known as the Houthis seized the Yemeni capital in 2014 and the president fled to Saudi Arabia. The militants withdrew this spring under pressure from a Saudi-led coalition that is fighting the Houthis.” BBC: Turkey Guilty Verdict For Depicting Erdogan As Gollum “A Turkish man has been found guilty of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for depicting him as the Gollum character from the Lord of the Rings. A court in the south-western Antalya province gave Rifat Cetin a suspended one-year jail sentence and stripped him of parental custody rights. He has insisted his images, comparing Mr Erdogan with the grotesque-looking Gollum in 2014, were harmless. But on Thursday, the court in Antalya sentenced Cetin to a year in prison, suspended for five years. Article 299 of the Turkish penal code states that anybody who insults Turkey's president can face a prison term of up to four years.” United States CNN: Hundreds Of New U.S. Troops To Iraq A 'Possibility' “The Obama administration is ‘not ruling out the possibility’ of sending hundreds of additional troops to Iraq this fall to help train, advise and assist Iraqi forces as they get ready for a potential assault on Mosul, according to a senior U.S. official. And while officials won't publicly confirm it, there have been several meetings to begin to determine if more troops are needed for the upcoming battle for Iraq's second-largest city and what those troops might do to affect the battle. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, by all accounts has not yet asked for more troops, several U.S. officials told CNN.” USA: U.S. Launches First Attacks On Taliban Under New Rules “U.S. warplanes in Afghanistan have launched airstrikes against Taliban targets in recent days under new authority granted to the top commander there to help Afghan forces achieve ‘catastrophic success,’ Defense officials said. The expanded authorities allow Army Gen. John Nicholson to bolster Afghan offensives with U.S. combat advisers, airstrikes, surveillance aircraft and pilots to fly alongside the fledgling Afghan air force, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the new missions. Nicholson alone has the authority to order the new missions, the Defense official said. The four-star Army officer took command in March and has been assessing the security situation there. Expanding the U.S. combat role grew out of that assessment.” Syria The Washington Post: After Appearing On Russian Jets, Incendiary Munitions Make A Resurgence In Syria “Earlier this week analysts found that RT, a government-funded Russian media company, edited out footage that initially showed Russian jets in Syria armed with incendiary munitions. The original clip was restored after RT said it had deleted the footage out of concerns for the pilot’s safety. The use of incendiary weapons in Syria is nothing new — they’ve been dropped by Syrian government forces, albeit intermittently, since 2012. However, the munitions’ recent appearance, namely a pair of RBK-500 ZAB-2.5SM bombs strapped to the bottom of a Russian Su-34, comes among increasing reports of their use, namely around the besieged city of Aleppo.” Iraq Associated Press: Iraqi Forces Focus On Militants In North And West Fallujah “Iraqi commanders are preparing to dislodge Islamic State group fighters from pockets of territory in Fallujah's northern and western neighborhoods where the militants have dug in after largely fleeing their positions in the city center last week. Before Iraqi forces rolled into central Fallujah under cover of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, they were bogged down for weeks, trying to push through deep defensive trenches, tunnels and houses converted into bunkers by IS militants on the city's southern edge. Now looking to the city's north, Iraqi commanders expect to encounter a similarly fierce fight. ‘It's not going to be easy,’ Iraqi special forces Brig. Gen. Ali Jameel said of the upcoming battle for the last pockets of IS resistance where an estimated 100 militants are largely surrounded.” CNN: ISIS Remains A Formidable Enemy Despite Setbacks “ISIS seems to be on the defensive across the Middle East -- from its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria to the strategically important Iraqi city of Falluja. Governments and rebel groups are making concerted efforts to regain key territory lost to the jihadist group, but ISIS remains a formidable enemy, according to the top U.S. intelligence chief.  ‘Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL (ISIS) on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach,’ CIA Director John Brennan recently told Congress. Brennan noted that ISIS has lost ‘large stretches’ of territory in Iraq and Syria, has experienced a reduction of finances, and has struggled to replenish its ranks as fewer foreign fighters have been traveling to those countries.” Reuters: Offensives Against Islamic State Could Displace 2.3 Million Iraqis: U.N “Upcoming military offensives in Iraq against Islamic State, including an assault on the northern city of Mosul, could displace at least 2.3 million people, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Iraq said on Thursday. The prediction of such a vast humanitarian emergency creates additional complications for the Iraqi government and its U.S. allies, who have announced plans for offensives to drive Islamic State fighters this year from most of their Iraqi territory. More than 3.4 million people across Iraq have already been forced by conflict to leave their homes, according to the United Nations. In the past month, 85,000 people fled Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold an hour's drive from Baghdad, amid a military campaign that has recaptured large parts of the city.” Turkey Reuters: Coalition Air Strikes, Turkish Army Kill Eight Islamic State Militants: Sources “Artillery fire from Turkey and air strikes by U.S.-led coalition warplanes killed at least eight Islamic State fighters in northern Syria, military sources said on Thursday. They said Turkish army howitzers and multiple rocket launchers fired on the militants on Wednesday as they were preparing to strike Turkey with rockets and mortars, destroying one defensive fighting position. The coalition has stepped up air strikes against Islamic State in the area in recent weeks, in response to rocket attacks by the militants on the Turkish border town of Kilis. Kilis, just across the frontier from an Islamic State-controlled region of Syria, has been hit by rockets more than 70 times this year. More than 20 people have been killed and parts of the town reduced to rubble.” Associated Press: Turkey Acquits Briton Accused Of Making 'Terror Propaganda' “A Turkish court on Thursday acquitted a British scholar who had been accused of ‘making propaganda for a terrorist organization.’ Chris Stephenson, a computer science lecturer at Bilgi University, was deported from Turkey in March after being found with invitations for Kurdish New Year celebrations. He was later allowed to return to the country, where he rejoined his Turkish wife and daughter. Stephenson was among 1,000 scholars who signed a declaration denouncing military operations against Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey. The declaration had angered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and led to legal proceedings against some.” Associated Press: Lethal Car Bomb Attack In Turkey's Southeast “A car bomb attack in southeast Turkey killed a civilian and wounded at least six military personnel, according to a senior government official and media reports. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol, said initial reports indicated a car bomb was detonated near a gendarme outpost in Omerli, a town in Mardin Province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The civilian, he said, was a truck driver who was passing by in his vehicle. Six soldiers were wounded in the evening blast. The state-run news agency gave a higher toll, saying 12 people were wounded, including military personnel. Anadolu Agency pinned responsibility for the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK.” Deutsche Welle: Turkey Blocks German Delegation Airbase Trip Over Armenian Genocide Row “Turkey has denied permission for a senior German defense official and several members of parliament to visit Incirlik airbase in July, a spokesperson from the German defense ministry said Wednesday, as tensions mount between the NATO allies. Germany has about 250 troops, six Tornado reconnaissance planes and a refueling aircraft at the airbase in southern Turkey as part of the international coalition fighting the so-called ‘Islamic State’ in Syria. Ralf Brauksiepe, the undersecretary for defense, planned to visit German troops in July with a parliamentary delegation, but has so far been blocked due to tensions between Berlin and Ankara over a Bundestag resolution earlier this month calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians a genocide.” Afghanistan Reuters: U.N. Refugee Chief Urges Pakistanis Not To Label Afghan Refugees 'Terrorists' “The United Nations refugee chief on Thursday urged Pakistanis not to blame Afghan refugees for terrorism in their country, amid growing public calls for their deportation and worsening relations between the two neighbors. Warning that the roughly 2.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan risked becoming a ‘forgotten’ crisis, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on the international community to invest more funds to help them. ‘My appeal is that, not only to the authorities but also to the local population: refugees as you know are not terrorists,’ Grandi said during a visit to a repatriation center outside the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar. Pakistani officials have recently hinted at the possibility of deporting Afghan refugees, amid tense relations with Kabul.” Yemen Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Kill Seven In Search For Pro-Government Fighter: Residents “Residents of a village in central Yemen said Iran-allied Houthi fighters shot dead seven farmers on Thursday while searching for the leader of a pro-government militia. Peace talks in Kuwait between Yemen's government and the Houthis to end a civil war have dragged on for two months with few concrete results. A truce that began on April 10 has dampened fighting, but skirmishes continue almost daily. Residents of the village of Nadara in Ibb province said the Houthis could not find the militia commander but blew up his house and killed seven men working in the fields. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen's war in March 2015 on behalf of the internationally backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The conflict has killed at least 6,400 people and caused a humanitarian crisis.” Egypt Associated Press: Hijacker Says He Saw Killed Italian Student In Egypt Prison “An Egyptian hijacker who's fighting his extradition accused Egypt's military-backed government of torturing and killing an Italian doctoral student, claiming he saw Giulio Regeni being interrogated in a Cairo prison. In a surprising twist to lengthy extradition proceedings, Seif Eddin Mustafa told a Cypriot court that he hijacked the domestic EgyptAir flight in March intending to seek asylum in Italy in order to ‘point the finger’ at the Egyptian military regime. Mustafa said he caught a glimpse from behind a blindfold of a ‘foreign-looking’ person in Lazogli prison during his nearly two-month detention there in December and January after being arrested for using a false Ukrainian passport. The 59-year-old said he recognized Regeni from photos he came across after his release, insisting that he's ‘convinced’ Egyptian security forces killed the Italian at the Cairo prison he called the ‘slaughterhouse.’” CNN: Flight 804: Egypt Fails To Pull Data From Damaged Recorders “What sent EgyptAir flight 804 plummeting into the Mediterranean Sea last month, remains a mystery. Egyptian investigators have failed to extract any information from the badly-damaged memory chips of the crucial black boxes. Defeated, Egypt is now sending both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to the BEA in France in an effort to help download the data. The BEA -- the French version of the NTSB -- are considered some the best in the world at analyzing this type of equipment. The black boxes offer the best clues to determining why the Airbus A320 crashed into the ocean, while en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19, with 66 people on board.” Middle East Times Of Israel: Hezbollah MP Urges Kidnapping Israeli Civilians In Next War “A member of parliament from the political arm of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah called for Israeli communities to be captured and civilians taken hostage in any future war with Israel. Speaking on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV, MP Walid Sukkarieh said that in addition to the group’s missile arsenal — said to number in the tens of thousands — an offensive to seize northern Israeli communities should be employed to prevent Israel from retaliating and implementing its ‘Dahiyeh Doctrine,’ a military strategy that advocates the use of disproportionate force against a militant entity by destroying civilian infrastructure. Sukkarieh said in his interview on June 18 that Israel could not implement the doctrine if Hezbollah holds Israelis hostage in another round of conflict.” The Federalist: Hamas Is Isis’s Deadly New Best Friend “Hamas has a new ally in the Middle East. The ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula, known as ISIS Sinai Province or simply Sinai Province, is helping Hamas smuggle arms and other supplies into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. This new relationship is one of the many unforeseen consequences of the Arab Spring and the growing instability in the Middle East, bringing a fresh threat to America’s Egyptian and Israeli allies. It’s also more evidence of Iran’s ambition to become a regional hegemon. Hamas and Sinai Province are coordinating in a number of ways.” Libya Reuters: Death Toll In Clashes, Blast In Libyan Town Rises To 40 “The number of people killed in an explosion and in clashes between militiamen and locals in a town east of Tripoli has risen to 40, an official said on Wednesday. Al-Sharif Ahmad Jaddallah, a spokesman for the municipal council in Garabulli, said at least 25 people had been wounded and victims' remains were still being gathered. Garabulli officials say fighting erupted after a dispute on Monday between a local shopkeeper and a member of a militia who was refusing to pay for goods. After the shopkeeper shot the militiaman in the leg, other militia members returned to loot the shop and burned down several houses, Jaddallah said.” Reuters: Morocco Arrests 10 Suspected Islamist Militants, Including Algerian “Morocco said on Thursday that it had dismantled a suspected militant cell inspired by the radical group Islamic State and that it had arrested 10 men who were planning attacks in the North African kingdom. The interior ministry said in a statement that the cell was operating in the eastern city of Oujda, and the town of Tendrara in the same region bordering Algeria. This was the latest in a series of radical Islamist groups that Morocco has said it has broken up. It said 10 members of the group were meeting in a safe house and planning to rob a mall in the city of Oujda to fund their attacks across the kingdom.” BBC: Islamic State Conflict: The Libyans Gaining Ground In Sirte “From the sand dunes of eastern Sirte, the so-called Islamic State's port is clearly visible. Fishing boats are docked on the quayside, out of the water. Over the horizon is Europe. At the port, nothing stirs. IS can no longer get larger boats in and out of the harbour. Sirte was to be the Islamic State's bolt-hole from its bases in Iraq and Syria. But here, as in their home territories, the militants are losing. Libya's pro-government forces are gaining ground. IS threatened to send their jihadists to the gates of Rome. In Sirte, they will be lucky to survive much beyond the end of Ramadan in a couple of weeks' time.” Fox News: Ammunition Depot Explosion Kills Dozens “At least 60 people are dead after clashes in Libya. Pro-government militiamen fighting ISIS militants in Sirte along with an explosion at an ammunitions depot has killed dozens in a single day, according to a Libyan state news agency. Garabulli Municipal Council spokesman Sharif Jadallah says the explosion at the ammunitions depot followed clashes with militants. He says it was a catastrophe and that officials are still finding human remains. In Sirte, the last bastion of ISIS in Libya, clashes broke out with militiamen aligned with the newly-U.N. brokered government.” Nigeria Associated Press: Family Demands News Of Nigerian Girl Who Escaped Boko Haram “Hunters found Ali last month wandering on the fringes of Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest stronghold with her 4-month-old baby and the child's father, a Boko Haram fighter who she said helped her escape. She was flown to the capital, Abuja, for a televised meeting at which President Muhammadu Buhari promised her the best care, rehabilitation and education. The Bring Back Our Girls movement says no one has seen her since. Human Rights Watch asked if she is detained. The Defense Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, did not answer that question but said that Ali's privacy needs to be protected.” United Kingdom BBC: 'Jihadi Jack' Parents To Face Terror Trial In January “The parents of a man thought to be fighting in Syria with the so-called Islamic State will stand trial in January accused of funding terrorism. Jack Letts, 20, dubbed ‘Jihadi Jack’ by some newspapers, is thought to be the first white Briton fighting in Syria. John Letts, 55, and Sally Lane, 54, have been charged with making money available for terrorism purposes. The pair are accused of sending money to their son, and will appear in court for a plea hearing on 17 November. Mr Letts and Ms Lane, both of Chilswell Road, Oxford, were charged on 9 June. They are accused of three counts of entering into a funding arrangement contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.” Germany CNN: German Cinema Attacker Takes Hostages Before Being Killed By Police “A masked gunman stormed a German cinema Thursday afternoon, taking hostages before he was killed by police, officials said. The rifle-wielding man entered the cinema in Viernheim, near Frankfurt in western Germany, shortly before 3 p.m. local time, Hesse Interior Minister Peter Beuth said. Police received reports of four shots fired. German public TV initially said 25 people were injured, but it wasn't clear if they were shot or hurt in other ways. After the ordeal ended, a Viernheim police spokesman told CNN that no one was injured by gunfire aside from the attacker. The U.S. Embassy in Germany said officials are looking into the possibility that tear gas might have caused some of the injuries, spokeswoman Jackie McKennan said. At one point, the assailant took hostages, but it's unclear why.” The Wall Street Journal: German Police Kill Gunman In Cinema Incident “A masked gunman stormed a movie theater in a small western German town Thursday, firing shots and briefly taking hostages before he was shot dead by police. None of the hostages was injured in the attack, which ended after special forces rushed into the theater complex, police said. The incident came amid fears that Germany could be swept up in the spate of shootings and terror attacks that have struck Western capitals, but it remained unclear late Thursday if the event was related to terrorism. ‘We don’t have any indications at this stage that this was a terror attack but we can’t exclude anything,’ said a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in the city of Darmstadt that is in charge of investigating the event.” France The New York Times:  Boxes From Egyptair Jet Are Going To France For Repair “After days of unsuccessfully laboring to revive the flight recorders of the EgyptAir jetliner that crashed in the Mediterranean last month, Egyptian investigators said on Thursday that they would send the damaged devices to France for repairs next week. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders of Flight 804 will be flown to the French aviation accident investigation bureau near Paris, the investigators said in a statement. The French bureau will try to restore the devices by, among other things, removing accumulated salt, the statement added. Once information can be retrieved, the boxes would be flown back to Cairo for analysis. The Airbus A320 mysteriously plunged from 37,000 feet into the Mediterranean on May 19 on a flight from Paris to Cairo, killing all 66 passengers and crew members on board. Egyptian officials have repeatedly suggested that the disaster was most likely the result of terrorism, though no group has claimed responsibility for it.” Europe Deutsche Welle: Are Russia's Anti-Terror Laws Designed To Fight Democracy? “The Russian parliament will end its legislative season with a bang. While the entire world is talking about the effects of Britain's EU referendum (Brexit), members of the Russian Duma could pass a controversial set of laws on Friday - their last day of business before the summer break. A second and possibly a third and final reading of the bill is planned for the session. Officially, the laws are designed to fight terrorism, however, warnings about the fact that they will massively limit civil rights and freedoms have been growing. Some see the Kremlin's battle with opposition parties as the main motivation for the package. ‘Effectively, it is about destroying all those that are not in agreement with the government,’ independent parliamentarian and Kremlin critic Dmitry Gudkow posted on Facebook.”