Email from Counter Extremism Project (CEP)

Extremist Content Online: Active Club Movement Celebrates Recent MMA and Networking Events on Telegram, TikTok, X, Instagram, and YouTube

(New York, N.Y.) — The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists and terrorist groups on the Internet to spread propaganda and incite violence. Last week, the white supremacist Active Club movement celebrated the fourth annual Frontier combat sports and networking event, held in Southern California. CEP researchers also found several accounts on mainstream social media platforms that shared Active Club propaganda, including on TikTok, YouTube, X, and Instagram.

On RocketChat, pro-ISIS users noted the July sentencing of a Brazilian supporter of the group who had been active on the communications platform.

White Supremacist Active Club Movement Holds Annual Frontier Event in Southern California

Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Instagram accounts affiliated with the white supremacist Active Club movement celebrated the fourth annual Frontier event allegedly held in the San Diego area on August 30. A flyer for the event shared online noted that it was sponsored by the Active Club propaganda group, Media2Rise, and hosted by the Southern California Active Club chapter, as well as the Hammerskins-affiliated event promoter, the West Coast Firm. Frontier is a networking and combat sports tournament featuring mixed martial arts (MMA), Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and boxing, which has previously included participants from Active Clubs, Patriot Front, and other groups. The Southern California Active Club chapter claimed that “tens of allied groups” from around the U.S. were present in 2025. Telegram and Substack posts indicated that members attended from Active Clubs in Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Montana, Arizona, and a club for parts of Kansas and Missouri, as well as members of a California Youth Club for teenagers under the age of 18. Event photos included the flag of a California Hammerskins-affiliated support crew, a California Youth Club, a Midwest Patriot Front chapter, and the banner of a Michigan Active Club.

Media2Rise released an 11-second video trailer on Telegram and X, promoting future posts and videos related to the event. An Active club-affiliated TikTok account posted two photo sets on September 1 and 3 commemorating the event, which garnered 2,102 and 1,808 views, respectively, as of September 8. An Instagram account that posted the same video trailer had over 300 views three days after it was uploaded to the site. CEP reported the TikTok and Instagram accounts on September 4. As of September 8, they were both still online.

An Active Club communications channel shared a movement-affiliated YouTube account on September 6, telling subscribers to follow them on “Jewtube.” The YouTube channel was created in January 2025, but ten of the 16 videos were uploaded to the account within the last week. The account had over 1,350 views as of September 8. CEP reported the account to YouTube on September 8.

An Active Club account on TikTok advertising recent photo sets from the Frontier 25 tournament. Screenshot taken on September 8.

Pro-ISIS Tech Channel Notes July Sentencing of RocketChat User

On September 1, a pro-ISIS RocketChat room dedicated to information security and cybersecurity noted that a former pro-ISIS RocketChat user was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Brazil in July 2025. Thiago José Silva Barboza de Paula, who was arrested in December 2024, was found guilty of promoting a terrorist organization and acts preparatory to terrorism. Barboza de Paula shared ISIS propaganda, explosives manuals, and advocated for acts of violence.

In February, a RocketChat user noted that the account belonging to Barboza de Paula had shared valuable information, and that his arrest was a reminder to not trust other users, and practice good operational security.

Learn about CEP’s new Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88, the former home of the concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss, and how to support this important effort here.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organization working to combat the growing threat posed by extremist ideologies.

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