Use Of Social Media As Propaganda

Social media databases, which include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are attractive to users because they allow them to have complete control over who they communicate and interact with. According to The Pew Research Center Online, 79% of American adults between the ages twenty-three to sixty-five said they used the internet and nearly half of adults (47%), or 59% of internet users, say they use at least one Social Media site to network. On the other hand, The Pew Research Center Online also claims that 16% of social media users are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. Like the older adults, the young adults and children are exposed to the luxuries of social media, but they are also introduced to the sophistical media as well. For example, Social Media sites have become a headquarter for people to spread their own malicious beliefs: the jihadists terrorists group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become an adept user of social media. In June of 2014, the group began an attack on the Iraqi city Mosul while also launching a “hashtag campaign” (Brooking and Singer), #AllEyesOnISIS. The hashtag surged across Twitter and created a global frenzy. Since then, ISIS has grown because of social media while recruiting through networking sites and self advertisement. ISIS’s most notable self promotion was the surfacing of a video that showed several ISIS followers beheading an

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.

Atwan and others who trenchantly talked about the position of the internet in al-Qaeda 's progression collects evidence of vast amounts of jihadist online activity to craft their case. Chat rooms, emails and Web sites all bristle with jihadist discussion, dissemination, and debate, providing resources vital to individuals studying al-Qaeda. However, the real centrality of such virtual movement to al-Qaeda and its acts of terrorism remains a relatively unexplored theory in these intellectual accounts of the internets

“In effect, terrorists’ acts should be viewed as “violent language.” For them, the genuine power of terrorism is that it functions as propaganda. The result is behavior modification of the target audience by both coercive and persuasive means (Denton, 2004, p. 4)”. Terrorists use these evil acts to send messages to their victims to emphasize their “Don’t Fuck With Us” axiom and mentality.

Over the past year or two, newspapers, radio stations, and news broadcasts have been covering the rapid ascent of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS. But they have spread far beyond those material boundaries, reaching into the minds and homes of young people across the globe. These young people are led to believe that ISIS is saving the world, not harming it and that they must partake in the fight for religious dictatorship. They are instructed over the internet to perform acts of terrorism in their own country, known as domestic terrorism. Due to the dramatic increase in terrorist activity

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Arguably the most famous event that made people aware of the terrorism acts emerging from the Middle East was the infamous 9/11 terrorists attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, which included over 3000 people killed in New York City and Washington D.C. That attracted a substantial amount of media coverage and stimulated the war on terrorism regarding the U.S. and Middle Eastern threats. In late March of last year, ISIS supporters released a list of about 100 names and pictures of U.S. military personnel, and their goal was to kill them and their families. News outlets immediately jumped on the story, even though the author of the list was anonymous. When writing about the threat, news stations informed readers about the common goals of an ultra terrorist group, not knowing that they may have accidentally fueled a “propaganda campaign” help ISIS further carry out their mission of recruitment. Fathali Moghaddam, a terrorism expert and professor of psychology at Georgetown University supports the idea that the coverage of the media has aided in the evolution of ISIS’ “Hollywoody” image (Fryer-Biggs). ISIS isn’t necessarily complaining about the amount of exposure they receive because the media’s news could be considered “add on” almost to their own forms of propaganda in which they are highly skilled with. “It has its own 24-hour channel [with attractive special

An excerpt from the article “Think Before You Tweet in the Wake of an Attack” has written about the correlation between mainstream media coverage and the likelihood of attacks that are caused by the media coverage. “Terrorists have always craved media attention; in April, researcher Michael Jetter, of the University of Western Australia, found that increases in mainstream media coverage of al Qaeda correlated with the likelihood of attacks the following week. And in the age of Facebook and Twitter, everyone's the media. It's not just journalists who must learn to responsibly cover these attention-seeking atrocities but anyone with a Twitter handle.” As the article discusses, social media platforms have now created ways for terrorist to show their atrocities to the world. Which will leads to anyone seeing their acts as others will share the videos that these terrorist have freely posted on site such as twitter and facebook. Speaking of Facebook, the social platform now allows live streaming, which has lead to made it easier for executions, suicides, and other morbid acts to be readily available for anyone. Regardless if they want to see

Some terrorism videos are of the terrorists attacking civilians, burning down buildings, shootings or bomb explosions. (Zero Censorship, 2014-2016) These videos can be viewed from most electronic devices and are uncensored. This material inspires, disgust, and frightens people all in one. Terrorists also use digital media to find potential recruits ready to join the life of terrorism. In recruitment videos terrorists put into the minds of their viewers that what they’re doing is good, and whatever they are going against is bad. They spread their ideology and ask people work with them to get a certain point across or just the feeling of accomplishing something. People who watch these videos and feel like it’s their duty to stand up for the movement are willing to die for the cause, join. Mass media capitalizes from terrorists attacks, this kind of news draws the attention of viewers and readers. Terrorists on the other hand use the mass media coverage to send messages to people world wide, showing they’re a force to be reckoned with and taken seriously. Osama bin Laden was the first terrorists that understood the power of media. With the 9/11 attacks Osama captured the undivided attention of people everywhere. He was the first terrorist to do so. Now ISIS has the power of mass media and use it the same way, to send a message to people everywhere. Communicating

Finally, This topic is up to date and is one of the hottest topics on political, social and even financial stage not only withing the US but worldwide, due to the Islamic terrorism spread. This topic is crucial to understand the basis of terrorism and related possible charges, for someone who is not aware of “ ' Terroristic ' Messages ' charges. It may help to understand, that terroristic speech is not protected under the First Amendment, and in particular that to be considered as ' Terroristic ' Messages ', the message might not only be verbal, but symbolic, or as a support for terrorists ( financial, moral, distributed in any type of medias). One can be considered as a terrorist supporter, without even ever meeting terrorists and speaking with them. In the era of the social media, and Internet, it 's dangerous without being a supporter to consult the forbidden, and running by terrorist web- pages, because, one can be considered liable and accused. Consequently, the

Social media is commonly used worldwide as a tool for learning and communication. However, the benefits are compromised by the inability to contain the contents shared and the misbehaviour of its users. Social media intervenes with the strict regulations of gun distribution, is used as a method of propaganda by terrorist organizations and is a platform that eases the execution of hate crimes in the form of cyberbullying. The aspect of efficiency and anonymity on social media makes it the largest contributor in violating laws across national borders, leading to more chaos and tragedy than convenience.

That call to action can come in many forms of media and to a global audience. “Terrorist recruitment videos, often released online, have been tailored to appeal to various audiences. A propaganda video, which can still be watched on YouTube of captured U.S. soldier, Bowe R. Bergdahl, compares what seems to be his good treatment under al-Qaeda, to those of U.S.-run prisoner of war camps” (Philipp).

In the world we live in today, people have the opportunity to interact with one another due to the advancement in technology. For many years people relied on the traditional ways of communications, for example pay phones, send letters, a house phone, in person and they even used web cam’s. Presently, people rely on modern day methods of communication such as sending text messages, emails or even messaging via social. The development of the internet has made it so much easier for people to communicate that Social Media has become the place where people interact more than ever in a mere second.

“If the media were not there to report terrorist acts and to explain their political and social significance...terrorism as such would cease to exist” said John O'Sullivan, an editor of the Times of London.1 This is also the way many other people feel about the recent increase in terrorist activity; they feel that the media is causing it. The media is doing this by fulfilling the terrorists' need for publicity.2 Terrorists need media publicity in order to get their views spread to the public.3 Because of this need for publicity, terrorists are committing their acts of terrorism in areas where a lot of publicity will be gained; the United States and Western Europe are the most recent targets. The bombings of the federal building in