ADL unveils counter domestic terrorism plan

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has initiated the PROTECT Plan to mitigate domestic terrorism efforts while protecting civil liberties.

According to ADL data, right-wing extremists were linked to at least 16 extremist-related murders in America last year and have been responsible for 75 percent of such homicides in the last ten years.

The PROTECT Plan would adopt a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to preventing and countering domestic terrorism while protecting civil liberties; pass the assing Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act to authorize offices to address domestic terrorism and ensure those offices have resources proportionate to the threats; and take steps ensuring individuals associated with violent extremist movements or engaged in violent extremist activity are deemed unsuitable for employment at the federal, state, and local levels – including law enforcement and military – and not given security clearances.

“While it is a welcome sign that extremist-related murders decreased in 2020, the unprecedented violent and deadly insurrection we witnessed on Jan 6 in the nation’s capital and other nonfatal but violent incidents reported in 2020 show that the threat of extremist violence remains an ever-present danger to society,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “As we saw in the Capitol violence just a few weeks ago, the far right is emboldened like never before.”

The plan would also involve funding civil society programs to address violent extremist radicalization and recruitment, ensuring the programs do not stigmatize communities.

There would also be investigations surrounding any complicity between social media companies and extremists to make social media platforms more transparent and accountable for dangerous content.