Europol said it has coordinated its largest Referral Action Day to date targeting terrorist propaganda shared as audio, referring 17,298 web links across 40 online platforms for review.
The operation focused on terrorist audio content used by groups across the ideological spectrum, including jihadist and violent right-wing extremist networks, the organisation informed on Wednesday.
Hungary initiated and co-led the action with Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit, which supports EU countries in identifying and tackling terrorist and violent extremist content online.
Specialised investigators from 13 countries took part: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The links contained more than 1,100 hours of audio — the equivalent of 47 days of continuous listening.
Investigators collected material in the weeks before the action and carried out checks intended to avoid interfering with ongoing investigations.
On 3 March, the URLs were sent to online service providers to assess against their terms of service, and 77% of the content has been removed so far.
The suspected material included speeches from designated terrorist leaders, songs praising violent acts, and nashids — Islamic chants often used in jihadist propaganda.
Audio content targeted across multiple platforms
The action was launched in response to what Europol described as a growing presence of terrorist content on audio-sharing platforms.
An EU Internet Referral Unit expert gave testimony earlier this year in a Swedish court on the role of nashids in the radicalisation of a terrorist suspect.
The suspect was found guilty of terrorist offences for preparing an attack in Stockholm during the summer of 2025.
