Algerian accounts promoting terrorism activated during the Hamburg massacre

Algerian accounts calling for terrorist acts in Europe were activated and deactivated on Twitter on Thursday evening, at the same time as the Hamburg shooting in Germany. Whistleblowers call on German police to investigate.

Thursday evening, when a shooting took place in a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, leaving 7 dead and several injured, messages and videos glorifying terrorism, especially in German, spread on social networks, including Twitter.

The shooting in Germany targeted members of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” who had gathered for a weekly Bible study meeting, according to local media.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed his ” thoughts “ to the victims” of a brutal act of violence”. The German authorities have denied the presence of a terrorist motive, finding no clues in this direction.

Yet, at the same time, many accounts on Twitter posted content calling for terrorist attacks in Europe and videos of the terrorist organization Daesh. These accounts activated yesterday were deactivated the next day.

Whistleblowers have called on German police to monitor these accounts which have been identified as Algerian.

“I call on the German authorities and the Hamburg police to keep an eye on the content of Algerian accounts that support terrorism in Germany”tweeted a user who adds that a “Small analysis of these accounts revealed sensitive information about the nationality of the admins”.

He reports that one of the most active accounts goes by the handle Earlie – @Earlie56626097, and that “the analysis of its activity showed that the owner is Algerian”.

This account, currently deactivated, followed only 5 other accounts on Twitter and in this list appeared the Algerian Ministry of the Interior and some media and public figures.

The identified Twitter account, created in November 2022, published content in English and German, intended for a German-speaking and English-speaking audience.