ISIS Propaganda On The Rise

Tactics to induce terror in pursuit of a political goal have been utilized by a multitude of organizations across the globe. This method of power control is known as terrorism, and due to its impact and unpredictability, it is highly feared and monitored today in the 21st century. Attacks of this nature stem from radical beliefs of religion, ethics, or other politics, and have been carried out globally, ranging from the 9/11 attack in New York City to the 2015 shooting in Paris, France. Terrorism over recent years has grown despite an abundance of efforts by many nations and international organisations to stop development of such groups. This growth is partially attributed to advances in digital technology and the furtherment of communication techniques, such as social media and web-based content, which has allowed for the spread of these radical ideas across the planet making it difficult to control the advancement of these beliefs (Council on Foreign Relations, 2009). Terrorism will never be able to be fully stopped due to the abstract nature and ideology from which terrorism originates.

Terrorists are actively targeting American youth through social media to solicit empathy and recruits. The Counter-terrorism proposal targets those same young Americans. The proposed campaign recommends the use of black propaganda in the social media sphere to make terrorist organizations seem distasteful, unappealing and boring.

Social networking websites are being used as a tool to spread their hate. These social networks are being used to recruit members for hate groups and militants. They use internet to form a site that promotes racial violence, anti-semitism, homophobia, hate music and terrorism. As a mother, I do believe that children are being taught in school about the dangers and preventing them from using such sites. Parents must reinforce their children’s learning at home by distinguishing between biased, prejudicial material and fair, accurate

Terrorism has shown itself to be a major issue in the past couple of decades. With the birth of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, otherwise known as ISIS, the word saw a new kind of evil. The United States and the rest of the world had never been threatened more with the militant groups rise to power. Thousands of people have been slaughtered at the hands of ISIS and a majority of the World powers have yet to intervene. A majority of the World Powers have a strong enough military force to defeat them, yet have not taken action on ending the evil Jihadist. However, an attack on the Islamic State would not be easy and many negative factors would have to be worked around. As the World Powers continue to put ISIS on hold, the terrorist strength and power continues to grow stronger. If a change isn’t made, and a fight isn’t brought to the Islamic State, hundreds of thousands

ISIS is a terrorist organization that is surprisingly successful at recruiting its members with the use of social media, including: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Social media campaigns allow ISIS to aggressively and effectively recruit people from around the world. Western recruiters voluntarily leave their stable lives, they abandon everything including their culture, as well as, their family and friends. They travel across the world to take part in the global war. There are many different reasons for young people to join ISIS. According to Omar Haque, most appealing to young people is the fact that ISIS provides answers to existential purposes and it “feeds the spiritually hungry” (Haque). False promises about building a new utopian state in Syria and ISIS sophisticated use of social media is an easy and fast way to reach out many lost souls. ISIS targets young people in transitional stages of their life, individuals who are most vulnerable. Young people looking for existential answers including their identity, a purpose for living and their personal significance hope to find all answers in an extremist organization as ISIS that sees things as good and absolute evil. ISIS uses the vulnerable human nature and offers empathy to those who feel alienated, lonely, uncertain or marginalized.

The perceived image of modern terrorism is different than the face of terror in the past, due to the increasing use of technology as a means for aiding extremists and terrorist activities. This paper will argue that modern tactics require different approaches from what has been done in the past to fight terrorism, and explore this difference between this past and present technological recruitment phenomenon. I will examine this issue using ISIS and Al Qaeda as a case study, by finding how it effectively utilizes and issues propaganda, therefore influencing citizens to join their fight. What is different

Enticing young recruits from all over the world by using advanced technology and propaganda to persuade them to join in an exciting adventure. “They are far superior...when it comes to media technologies”(Jethro,CNN). For example, the ISIS propaganda team, HIJRAH, creates videos of explosions, gunfire, and killing that possibly troubled and insecure teenagers who are trying to find their way in the world, find exciting. The group continues to expand its terror on the Middle East.

The Islamic State of Iraq utilizes social media to their advantage in order to recruit and spread propaganda. Why did they post a hit list of U.S. service members on social media? Some argue that their tactics and techniques are meant to strike fear into people while drawing them into radicalization. The effects of ISIS uploading data on social media websites creates a psychological effect on people while also giving away capabilities of the organization during their cyber warfare progression. Some of their capabilities that they claim to have is the ability to hack government servers and databases but there is a lack of evidence supporting that claim. While most of the names on the list can be found on the public domain, ISIS claimed to have received the names through hacking government systems. The effects of this event supports recruitment for the

Picture mass pandemonium and chaos, what once was a peaceful world where society can freely go online and enjoy hysterical videos and share pictures of family events and things they enjoy, are now poisoned with streams of Isis beheading videos and the latest victim of the ruthless regime. One prime example of this is how Isis is successfully recruiting and terrorizing people through social media and using fear tactics to worry us. They are also showing that they have the numbers, not only on the ground, but through people who sympathize with them and support their cause. “It is becoming increasingly apparent that Americans are gravitating toward the militant organization by engaging with ISIS online”, just by simply posting violent videos or reaching troubled youth, they are using the one thing we did not expect, social media, to recruit people.

ISIS’s use of digital media has helped them become a powerful terrorist organization and a global threat. ISIS is able to recruit a variety of people online by using “just about every tool in the platform box- from Twitter to Youtube to Instagram- to great effect, attracting fighters and funding” (Morell). ISIS utilizes the internet by using several different social media platforms to attract new recruits online. On these social media platforms, ISIS generates sophisticated propaganda due to their effective use of 21st century technology. This appeals to potential followers because ISIS uses fancy, expensive technology to glamorize the terrorist organization. ISIS has a “multilingual propaganda arm known as al-Hayat, which uses GoPros and cameras mounted on drones to make videos that appeal to its followers” (Morell). ISIS now has a dominant presence on social media sites, and these sites are accessible to people across the globe. In a iCONN article called “ISIS on the Recruitment Trail”, the author explains ISIS’ vast presence on Twitter, one of the world’s most popular social media sites. The article states, “About one out of five (21.4% to be precise)...that is how many tweets with the acronym ‘ISIS’ in them were in support of the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria...in the fall of 2014”(Moore). This

How does ISIS continue to spread: By recruiting people through social media and brainwashing younger generations.

ISIS recognized their power in the use of social media to spread its message and sway others, targeting more of a younger audience, to support the organization by travelling to the Middle East to engage in combat. The terrorist group even directed sympathizers to commit acts of violence wherever they are located even if they can’t travel to the Middle East. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook allow ISIS propaganda to reach across the globe in real time. ISIS have a global audience and they are the terrorist group with a western mentality.

The rise of terrorism and terrorist organizations such as The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become an international issue in recent years more so than ever before. The organization appeared most notably after the United States invaded Iraq after the George Bush administration and congress deemed Iraq in possession of WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction). Another factor that led to the rise of ISIS is the Syrian civil war, where chaos and discord allowed the battleground to become a prime recruiting ground for such organizations. Social Media and the increasing easy access to lesser developed countries is also another factor due to its ability to share content and converse fairly easily, which allows ISIS to spread propaganda and

One of the terrorists’ main objectives is to increase the number of comrades that share their radicalized message. They are especially trying to spread their message in North America. “Acts of terrorism are significantly higher in countries with a free media that report and publicize terrorism regardless of the trauma inflicted on victims compared to the prevalence of such attacks in countries with a state-controlled media” (Laqueur). They advertise themselves in America because the country has a free media that would feature its terrorist activities. The terrorists endured a language barrier in their effort of luring Americans to their beliefs. Anthony Lemieux in his article, Inspire Magazine: A Critical Analysis of its Significance and Potential Impact Through the Lens of the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Model, displays their creative methods of getting past the language barrier. Lemieux argues that the Inspire, a magazine that is produced by Al-Qaeda, is one of the creative aspects terrorists used in defeating the language that was barricading them in spreading of their message to the world, especially in North America. Lemieux also stresses that these magazines are published online which is a great forum to spread the message on the digital broadband. His remarks are supported by Harleen

Their leader Baghdadi has aided ISIS in gaining prominence, with their control of parts of Iraq and Syria. The goal of this extremist group is that “ Muslims across the world swear allegiance to its leader - Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarrai, better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - and migrate to territory under its control” (BBC). They also believe in Sharia Law and they also emphasize an apoplectic stage and literalist translations of the Quran. ISIS also attempts to eradicate infidel’s public execution, crucifixion, apostates, and anyone against their rulings, they believe in religious and ethnic cleansing. Wood from the The Atlantic said “The Islamic State has its share of worldly concerns (including, in the places it controls, collecting garbage and keeping the water running), but the End of Days is a leitmotif of its propaganda” (Wood). ISIS is also using modern tool like social media to recite members. According to the New York Post, “ Facebook, Google and Twitter are stepping up efforts to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants, but the Internet companies are doing it quietly”