(TLP:CLEAR) CTC Sentinel – February 2026: Countering Violent Extremism Online Activity and the True Crime Community
Created: Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 13:55
Categories: General Security and Resilience, Research
Summary: The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point published its “Sentinel” magazine for February 2026. This latest issue highlights how one organization is working to thwart violent extremist digital activity and the online network known True Crime Community, which is affiliated with nihilistic violent extremists (NVEs).
Analyst Note: The interview in this month’s issue is with Naureen Chowdhury Fink, executive director of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), which works to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms. She states terrorist groups and violent extremists are learning to adapt to online moderation efforts. Violent extremists are also “using multiple platforms for recruitment, for propaganda, for instructional support, for operational planning.” She notes they’re seeing a lot more exploitation of gaming platforms to radicalize vulnerable youth.
Another article explores the tiered online ecosystem that is the True Crime Community (TCC) and situates it—when at its most extreme—within the NVE threat landscape. “The TCC,” the authors write, “illustrates a form of digitally mediated participation in which violence becomes a symbolic language rather than an ideological act. Its tiered structure shows how individuals may move from mainstream true-crime interest into more insular, transgressive subcultures that celebrate perpetrators and aestheticize harm.” This threat vector is important to continue to monitor since as WaterISAC has previously reported NVEs are increasingly conducting targeted attacks at soft targets across the U.S., including at schools and places of worship.
Original Source: https://ctc.westpoint.edu/february-2026/
Additional Reading:
- FBI Boston Warns of Nihilistic Violent Extremists Targeting Children and Vulnerable Victims Online
- (TLP:AMBER) Nihilistic Violent Extremist Threat Round Up
Related WaterISAC PIRs: 1 & 2