THE SOUTHERN TALKS #9 - Terrorist Financing, Cultural Looting and The Role of Social Media

Dr. Amr Al Azm discusses how the looting and selling of antiquities during conflicts can finance terrorist groups.

Africa, Middle East - Fight Against Terrorism - Format: Video - Size: 0 Bytes - Date: Jul, 2024 - Pages: - Copyright: NATO Strategic Direction South HUB - Tags: Counter terrorism, Africa, Middle East

The NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub welcomes Dr. Amr Al Azm to The Southern Talks where we will be discussing how the looting and selling of antiquities and other cultural property during conflicts can finances terrorist groups, with a close look at the pivotal role of social media in facilitating this illegal trade.

This Southern Talks is of an hour with a section dedicated to Q&A.

The YouTube video is timestamped / divided into chapters for easy viewing.

Key insights

The Arab World is rich in Cultural Heritage
Looting's gravely impacts Cultural Heritage
Social Media has facilitated and amplified Cultural Looting
Facebook has become a perfect digital tool for the trafficking and selling of stolen Artefacts
The Athar Project is an Open-Source Investigation into Online Trafficking of Artefacts
Transnational & Global Networks are selling stolen artefacts online and on a large scale
Monitoring and Blocking of FB accounts is not an easy task
Facilitating Pillage for Profit: Platforms are actually monetizing Antiquities Trafficking
Cultural looting poses a threats to the Region and beyond