The Russian-created platform TamTam is emerging as the next major social media hotbed for extremist content, reveals a new study conducted by Dr. Gabriel Weimann, a professor of Communication at University of Haifa and researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University.
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Countermeasures such as surveillance and de-platforming on many social media networks have prompted extremist actors to search for more permissive environments to propagate their content, interact, and make connections. This has made TamTam a popular destination for jihadist and extreme right-wing users.
The study, called TamTam: The Online Drums of Hate, examined 1,016 relevant posts over a 12-week period from December 2022 to February 2023, including 546 posts (53%) on extreme right-wing channels and 475 (47%) on jihadi channels. During this three-month period, the extremist posts on TamTam garnered nearly 3.4 million views, with an average of 3,600 views per item. While TamTam removed 18 channels that hosted extremist content, the study found that the platform has not attempted to remove or succeeded in removing many posts linked to terrorists or inciting violence. The research also makes clear that extremists use TamTam as a de-facto archive, and as a forum for exchanging information and social interaction.
"These mass migrations have been common in recent years, with actors moving from Twitter to a more permissive platform such as Telegram. The recent movement to TamTam is the most recent instance of this online migration trend," Weimann said.
"There is a pressing need for new policy solutions to combat the dissemination of extremist content. The persistent migration of extremists to new platforms poses a significant challenge for intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism agencies. Breaking the cycle of cat-and-mouse chases across platforms requires the development of a new strategy," he said.
