REVEALED: UK counter-terrorism office behind the creation of numerous ‘Muslim’ organizations

In a shocking new find, it has been revealed that the UK office for counter-terrorism, known for the controversial program of PREVENT, has been behind the creation of numerous “Muslim” organizations and media outlets such as This Is Woke, Ummah Sonic, and Super Sisters.

Take @SuperSistersMag that was founded by Team JGO who claim this mag is a Home Office project they delivered and have taken Prevent funding previously on their own website. @UK_CAGE @thebrownhijabi @RobFaureWalker @Tarek_Younis_ @YBirt @IanCobain is this Breakthrough Media too? pic.twitter.com/X0xEmQwOGy

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— Dr Asim Qureshi 🏞️➡️🌊🇵🇸🕊️ (@AsimCP) August 16, 2019

The Middle East Eye, first publishing the story last week, revealed that This Is Woke, a millennial-inspired media platform aimed at young Muslims in the West, is actually a creation by the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism at the UK Home Office.

The UK Home Office is reportedly refusing to comment on why these fake Muslim organizations were created, stating it would “prejudice the national security of the UK”.

Browsing the content of This Is Woke seems relatively normal, with posts and videos titled as “What does wearing the hijab mean to you”, “Will we all become vegan”, and a “It’s time to hold extremism to account for terrorism, not Islam”, a video that went viral with more than 1.7 million views.

According to Middle East Eye, who have repeatedly requested for comments by the Home Office in regards to why these fake Muslim media outlets were created, the Home Office issued a statement in response stating:

We are committed to using all of the tools available to counter the threat from terrorism in the UK. The Home Office works in partnership with a range of organizations from across civil society, industry, private and public sectors to reduce vulnerabilities to organized criminal, extremist, and terrorist threats in the UK. “

As part of the Home Office’s counter-terrorism program, the most infamous of which is PREVENT, is a sub-unit of the program called the Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU) which monitors secretive propaganda campaigns. The creation of fake Muslim-led organizations by units such as RICU comes at a shocking time when the accusations against fake news are rampant, and are intended “to effect behavioural and attitudinal change” amongst what the organization terms as “Prevent audiences”, defined by them as mainly British Muslim males aged 15 to 39.

The online magazine of Super Sisters, one of the media outlets which has been exposed as being a creation of the UK counter-terrorism office claiming to represent a platform for modern Western Muslims, has been exposed as being mainly written by white middle-aged men, with the one Muslim woman working for the platform, Sabah Ismail, resigning in protest. In a long Twitter explanation, she stated:

When I first joined earlier this year, I was surprised that there were no Muslim women on the creative SuperSisters team – after all, I thought SuperSisters was a project for Muslim women by Muslim women…Only in the last few days have I come to realize that the project was initially funded under the PREVENT strategy over 3 years ago, which quite honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach.”

Sharing a ‘statement’ in regards to my role and work with SuperSisters. I have now officially resigned. I deeply apologise to anyone who got caught up in any of this. @AsimCP @Nafisa_Bakkar @thebrownhijabi pic.twitter.com/yfB90s1MSG

— S A B A H ✨💛 (@SabahIsmail_) August 19, 2019

The Muslim community, both in the UK and around the world, have been demanding clear answers since the exposure of the Home Office’s propaganda campaign. Many have called for both the media organizations and the Home Office to issue clear statements on why these media platforms were created, as well as if those participating in the media platforms were fully aware of who was behind the creation of them.

to add, the DM I got about white men pretending to write as Muslim women was about @SuperSistersMag in 2016 – theyve been around a while and just because recent content creators were Muslim women doesn’t discredit the former claim – we still demand @SuperSistersMag to explain! pic.twitter.com/4mclrbcyox

— Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan (@thebrownhijabi) August 19, 2019

Since Middle East Eye first broke the news, CAGE has also issued an in-depth report on the full list of ‘Muslim’ organizations that were created or have been heavily influenced by the UK counter-terrorism office. The full list can be found here. CAGE has also issued a full 40-page report, which can be downloaded free for the public to read on the details of each organization with UK Home Office interference or influence. CAGE issued a statement within the report in its recommendations for the UK government, expressing the dangerous consequences of overt propaganda:

Propaganda and social engineering have always been at the heart of PREVENT, but the extent to which the government is now trying to define the contours of the legitimacy for Muslims and Islam in public life has now reached staggering proportions. Democracy requires clear lines between the security state and the police on the one hand, and civil society, public and social services on the other. This…provides a foundation for transparency, accountability and legitimacy. PREVENT and its counter-narratives are subject to none of these trappings.”

The UK’s Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, with its controversial program of PREVENT, has long vilified and marginalized an already disregarded community. The solutions in counter-terrorism lie not in attempts by members of an elite government force to change the hearts and minds of a vilified community, but instead to understand the motives behind terrorist acts based on socio-economic and political backgrounds and not cultural, religious, or ethnic upbringings.