A B.C. man whose Facebook posts promoted ISIS and praised lone wolf terrorist attacks has been ordered deported from Canada.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has ruled that Othman Hamdan of Fort St. John is a "danger to the security of Canada" and is therefore inadmissible.

"While Mr. Hamdan has no history of violence, he has praised lone wolf attacks, actively promoted the Islamic State, disseminated instructions on how to commit attacks and seems fascinated with the extreme violence of the Islamic State demonstrated by possessing Islamic State videos depicting gruesome murders," IRB member Marc Tessler wrote in an Oct. 18 decision.

"Mr. Hamdan's threats take on a more sinister dimension when a fascination with violence is mixed with anger and resentment."

Despite the deportation order, Hamdan isn't likely to be removed from Canada anytime soon, though he remains in custody. There are still a number of outstanding legal matters to be decided, including the removal of his refugee status, before he can be deported.

Hamdan, a Jordanian national, says he moved to Canada from the U.S. in 2002 because of threats he'd received. He was granted refugee protection in 2004.

He was acquitted last year in B.C. Supreme Court of terrorism-related charges related to his Facebook posts, but was arrested by officers from the Canada Border Services Agency upon his release from custody.

85 posts on 14 Facebook accounts

During his immigration hearing, Hamdan had argued that his posts were an expression of free speech.

But Tessler said the material was dangerous because it encouraged others to commit terrorist attacks.

At issue were a total of 85 Facebook posts on 14 different accounts — Hamdan was forced to create new accounts every time the social media company disabled one for promoting terrorism, according to Tessler.

The posts included praise for Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the 2014 Parliament Hill shooter, and Martin Couture-Rouleau, who killed a soldier with his car in Quebec the same year.

Hamdan also posted a lengthy entry that Tessler described as a "how-to" for people hoping to carry out lone wolf attacks against non-Muslims.

"The post provides the reader with a menu of killing options, including slitting the victim's throat with a knife, hitting them over the head with a heavy object and then slitting their throat, stabbing victims while riding past them on a motorbike; poisoning, choking and shooting them with a firearm equipped with a silencer, taking a vehicle from a Christian or an apostate and using it run people over," Tessler wrote.

'Sadistic inhumanity'

Hamdan's immigration hearings also heard evidence about how he'd created some troubling graffiti inside his holding cell at the Vancouver law courts, including an attempted drawing of the Islamic State's flag.

One of his neighbours in the cells gave police a thumb drive belonging to Hamdan that was filled with videos about ISIS. It contained six videos that featured "the kind of sadistic inhumanity associated with the Islamic State, including manual beheadings and the shootings of individuals in the head at close range," Tessler wrote.

The judge who handled Hamdan's criminal trial ruled in 2017 that while Hamdan's comments were offensive, they didn't amount to incitement of terrorism. Hamdan was found not guilty of encouraging murder, assault and mischief for terrorist-related purposes, as well inducing and instructing someone to carry out a terrorist act.

However, as Tessler pointed out in his decision, immigration matters have a "considerably lower" burden of truth than criminal trials — the government only needs to prove there are reasonable grounds to believe an allegation is true.</s>VANCOUVER, B.C. – A British Columbia man has been deemed inadmissible to Canada for being a security risk based on his Facebook posts promoting terrorism in support of the Islamic State group.

Othman Hamdan is a Jordanian national who was acquitted of terrorism-related charges by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in September 2017, but immigration authorities arrested him and determined at multiple detention reviews that he poses a danger to the public.

Now, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has decided Hamdan should be deported.

The board says in its written decision that Hamdan made himself out to be a cheerleader for the Islamic State in many of his 85 Facebook posts as he glorified and encouraged lone wolf attacks in Canada, the United States and other western countries.

The decision says Hamdan cast his activity on Facebook as an alternative news source, providing his followers with another view of events in the Middle East as he relayed the message of a terrorist organization.

Hamdan was arrested in 2015 at his home in Fort St. John, where he moved years after studying electrical engineering in the United States.</s>Othman Hamdan is a Jordanian national who was acquitted of terrorism-related charges by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in September 2017

A B.C. man has been deemed inadmissible to Canada for being a security risk based on his Facebook posts promoting terrorism in support of the Islamic State group.

Othman Hamdan is a Jordanian national who was acquitted of terrorism-related charges by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in September 2017, but immigration authorities arrested him and determined at multiple detention reviews that he poses a danger to the public.

Now, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has decided Hamdan should be deported.

READ MORE: B.C. man cleared of terror charges is security risk

The board says in its written decision that Hamdan made himself out to be a cheerleader for the Islamic State in many of his 85 Facebook posts as he glorified and encouraged lone wolf attacks in Canada, the United States and other western countries.

The decision says Hamdan cast his activity on Facebook as an alternative news source, providing his followers with another view of events in the Middle East as he relayed the message of a terrorist organization.

Hamdan was arrested in 2015 at his home in Fort St. John, where he moved years after studying electrical engineering in the United States.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man has been deemed inadmissible to Canada for being a security risk based on his Facebook posts that glorified terrorism in support of the Islamic State group, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada says.

Othman Hamdan is a Jordanian national who was acquitted of three terrorism-related charges by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in September 2017, but immigration authorities kept him in custody and determined at multiple detention reviews that he poses a danger to the public.

The board, which must establish whether an allegation is true rather than proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, says in a written decision released Friday that a deportation order has been issued for Hamdan.

Marc Tessler says in the ruling that Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale alleges much of the content in 85 Facebook posts amounted to counselling and supporting others to commit terrorist acts in Canada, the United States and other western countries.

“The minister asserts that Mr. Hamdan assumed for himself the role of a spokesman and cheerleader for the Islamic State but more specifically he glorified and encouraged lone wolf attacks,” the decision says of the man’s posts between September 2014 and July 2015.

Facebook began shutting down sites it identified as supporting the Islamic State, but Hamdan created new accounts and was posting on about 14 accounts. His security settings allowed anyone to read his posts.

Hamdan tried to explain away his use of the acronym IED, telling an admissibility hearing it stood for Internationally Epic Defeat, dismissing concerns that it is also used for Improvised Explosive Device.

“IED stands for any three words that begin with these three letters, so you could make up a whole lot of things that begin with these letters,” Hamdan said during the hearing, even though his post referred to the terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon in 2013, where two brothers used pressure cookers as improvised explosive devices.

Four of Hamdan’s posts mention the Islamic State offering a reward of about US$16,0000 to whoever kills a pilot of an alliance of countries fighting terrorism. The posts followed the downing of a Jordanian air force jet and capture of a pilot who was killed by being burned, with the Islamic State disseminating a video of the execution.

Hamdan posted a link to the video, with a caption that suggested the pilot’s death was justified because of the actions of alliance countries that bombed civilians from the air: “Think is it OK to kill kids under any circumstances!!! No then why is it OK when the murderer is a jet pilot that’s miles away!!!”

The decision says Hamdan, who was born in the United Arab Emirates, cast his activity on Facebook as an alternative news source, providing his followers with another view of events in the Middle East.

“Mr. Hamdan, however, did not merely report news, he identified with and allied himself with a terrorist organization and he served that organization’s social media agenda by relaying its messages.”

Hamdan was arrested in 2015 at his home in Fort St. John and told the court he moved to Vancouver in 2002 after studying electrical engineering in the United States, where he said he faced discrimination following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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He was granted refugee protection in Canada in 2004. He applied for permanent resident status but his application was declared abandoned four years later.

On Oct. 22, the Refugee Protection Division of the board allowed the public safety minister’s application to cease Hamdan’s refugee protection. He has already applied to the Federal Court for a judicial review.

An RCMP officer told an admissibility hearing in April that Hamdan was not a “couch jihadist” with a big mouth but someone who was radicalized by Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Hamdan threatened Facebook and the RCMP in his posts and discussed infrastructure in Canada, including a dam in Revelstoke, B.C., and a bridge near Nipigon, Ont., suggesting they were weak targets.</s>A Jordanian arrested in British Columbia over social media posts that allegedly supported the so-called Islamic State and “lone wolf” terrorist attacks has been ordered deported from Canada.

In a ruling Friday, the Immigration and Refugee Board found that Othman Ayed Hamdan was a danger to the security of Canada, saying he had served the “social media agenda” of the terrorist group.

“Mr. Hamdan identified infrastructure in Canada which could be targets for attack. He encouraged lone wolves in the West who could not travel abroad to carry out attacks at home,” the IRB wrote.

“He shared a detailed how-to manual for lone wolves to follow in serving the terrorist agenda of the Islamic State. Additionally, many posts appear to be recruitment initiatives.”

READ MORE: Online-inspired extremists are ‘the greatest terrorist threat,’ declassified CSIS document says

A Palestinian, Hamdan was born in the United Arab Emirates but is a citizen of Jordan. He was accepted as a refugee after arriving at the Canadian border from Washington State in 2002.

He was living in Fort St. John, B.C., in 2015 when he was arrested by the RCMP on terrorism charges stemming from his online posts about ISIS. Although he was acquitted in 2017, immigration authorities arrested him for possible deportation.

Like the unsuccessful terrorism prosecution against him, his immigration troubles were the result of dozens of messages he posted on Facebook in 2014 and 2015. In his posts, he identified a B.C. dam and an Ontario bridge as possible targets and called the lone terrorists who killed two soldiers in 2014 a hero and a brother.

The IRB dismissed Hamdan’s claim that he was merely acting as an “alternative news source,” finding he “identified with and allied himself with a terrorist organization and he served that organization’s social media agenda by relaying its messages.”

The ruling comes as Western governments are struggling to deal with social media use by violent extremist groups such as ISIS, which exploited the internet to recruit and disseminate threats, claims of responsibility and other propaganda.

Hamdan was “aware of the context in which he was making these posts, in which the Islamic State was using lone wolf attacks in Western countries in order to spread their influence and spread fear,” the IRB ruled.

READ MORE: Hearings scheduled to deport alleged ISIS supporter in B.C., official says

“Despite this global context, and despite knowing that his posts would be read by his online followers, Mr. Hamdan still chose to make the posts in question in the hopes that his posts would further the Islamic State’s influence, and aware that his readers might follow through on the terrorist acts that he promoted.”

Hamdan’s lawyer, Peter Edelmann, had argued his client had already been prosecuted and acquitted. “If Mr. Hamdan was a Canadian citizen he would be out, able to pursue the same activities that he was pursuing in terms of his speech.”

The immigration proceedings had been taking place behind closed doors since last fall but Global News successfully fought the publication ban. “Having these hearings in public is jeopardizing my safety in the future as well, here and abroad,” Hamdan said.</s>NEW YORK (AP)  Facebook is trying to clarify what posts, images and other content it allows on its site and why.

In an update to its community standards page, the world”s largest online social network gave users more guidance on why, for example, it might take down a post that featured sexual violence and exploitation, hate speech, criminal activity or bullying.

It also explained why it not only bans terrorist and organized crime groups, but it also removes content supporting them.

The Menlo Park, California-based company said it isn”t changing how it regulates the content of posts, and that while some of the guidance for users is new, “it is consistent with how we”ve applied our standards in the past.”

In a blog post Monday, Facebook said it is a challenge to maintain one set of standards that meet the needs of its entire community. More than 80 percent of Facebook users are outside the U.S. and Canada.

“People from different backgrounds may have different ideas about what”s appropriate to share  a video posted as a joke by one person might be upsetting to someone else, but it may not violate our standard,” wrote Monika Bickert, head of global policy management, and Chris Sonderby, deputy general counsel, in the post.

Facebook users who believe that a particular page or content violates the site”s standards can click a “report” link to notify Facebook. The company then considers whether to take it down.

Some content is only removed in some countries. Facebook restricts content in countries where it violates local laws, even if that content does not violate its community standards.

Separately, Facebook also released its latest report on requests it gets from governments worldwide, covering the second half of 2014. The report shows that requests from governments for data and to restrict information are both increasing.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada orders Othman Hamdan, a Fort St. John man whose Facebook posts promoted the Islamic State, deported. The deportation is not immediate and requires additional events to occur.