Social media networks have been popular for their way they enabled people to share the web about anything thinkable. From the bad to the good, social media is becoming a place to share without boundaries. Since everyone can use their services for their own benefits, their is popularity is also used by many to deliver propaganda.
With numerous social media networks, people can share about anything they want with the people they care about. With the ability to spread any words out to the wild, social media is becoming a common place for people in getting new fans and recruits. And that include terrorist organizations and the Islamic State sympathizers ISIS.
In the U.S. alone, there are nearly 400 American followers of ISIS. A report has found out that 14 percent of them are female, with an age average of 26. Two in five are Muslim converts and more than half have traveled or attempted to travel abroad.
Seamus Hughes, Deputy Director of the Program on Extremism, noted that "they communicate primarily in English, and discuss a wide range of topics, from open support of terrorist attacks to boringly benign banter about everyday life."
These has made them somehow difficult to predict.
"The online scene is a bit of a close-knit clique, where inside jokes are shared, memes are created, and dissenters are quickly ignored."
These people are acting as ISIS ambassadors on social media. And according to the report, these people are using popular social media networks to spread propaganda and hunting for potential recruits.
As their favorite social network, terrorists and many of their extremists are using the 140-character microblogging platform Twitter for extending their reach. There, the U.S. Islamic State adherents who traveled to war zones posted real-time updates of their exploits, the report said, and at times scolded supporters of the group back home "for their lack of commitment to the cause."
The reason for this is because Twitter is known to be fast and reliable, especially when delivering real-time information, as well as its quick and easy approach in putting things in one place.
The Endless Hunts
Government and the companies behind the social networks are taking down accounts they see fit. Whether the threats are coming from the terrorist organizations alike to others, social networks are regularly suspending accounts that deliver any threatening posts that include ISIS materials.
But the hunt seems to be endless. In the cat and mouse game, each account that is taken down, is soon replaced with new account(s) in matter of hours. The new accounts are then retweeted by followers, quickly bringing them out to their previous level of followers.
The report has shown that the Islamic State sympathizers in the U.S. prefer Twitter to any other social media platform and use avatars of black flags, green birds and lions - including the Detroit Lions NFL team - in their online propaganda.
The avatar is chosen because it resembles a scriptural reference from a hadith, or reported saying from the prophet Mohammad, that celebrates the virtues of martyrdom; jihadists term fallen comrades “green birds” to praise them as faithful Muslims.
Combining a distinctly American pride in an NFL team with the Islamic symbol of bravery is becoming more frequently used by ISIS supporters.
Photos of other Americans who have been arrested on terrorism charges, killed in "jihad" abroad or were responsible for homegrown terrorist attacks are other options used for avatars.
Having a Twitter account suspended has become a "badge of honor" among the U.S.-based ISIS supporters, and this has inspired them to bolster his or her legitimacy. They're increasingly adopting new ways and more sophisticated techniques to spread their words out quickly and efficiently.
During a six-months study, researchers have monitored the hundreds of accounts that are suspicious. The activity then showed how social media is playing a crucial role in their radical movements, and at times, mobilization to fight in Iraq and Syria.
With the many accounts, the terrorist organization is already becoming a community on its own. They're getting better in coordination than most people thought, and they can handle how information are shared, to whom, and when is the most effective time.
Variety of other online platforms, such as open forums, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr are also used extensively. To spread more discreet information, they tend to use Kik,Telegram, the deep web and others.
Twitter on the other hand, is a platform of choice because words spread out much easier, acting as an "informal echo chamber.”
ISIS Ambassadors On Twitter
The study concluded that ISIS supporters are divided into three different categories: the first is the "nodes" who are the leading voices and generators of primary contents. The second is the "amplifiers" who promote the contents to more places by retweeting, and "shout-outs" who promote newly created accounts to they become visible to previous followers of deleted accounts.
"Node" people don't tweet as much, and the contents they share are mostly substantive. The "shout-out" accounts are the ones who tend to have the largest followings while "amplifiers" have more pivotal role in ISIS's resilience on Twitter.
As U.S.-based ISIS supporters are continuously suspended from Twitter, creating a new account is becoming increasingly difficult for them. This is the reason why some turn to others' assistance.
When an ISIS-related account is taken down, the user behind it starts a new account and post a first tweet that is often an image of the Twitter notification of his/her previous account suspension, proving that they are actually the owner of the previous account. In the tweet post, they also request for shout-outs. After the "shout-outs" began their work, the new account and/or "nodes" started gaining followers. The "amplifiers" then continue their work in spreading propaganda across the platform.
Counter-Terrorism: The Arrests Continue
The U.S. authorities in 2015 have arrested nearly five dozen people for helping and supporting, or plotting with ISIS. According the the study, the year is marking the largest number of terrorism-related arrests in the country in a single year since September 2001.
According to an Assistant Attorney General for national security, terrorism-related arrests in the past 18 months, mostly involving the Islamic State, 80 percent of those arrested were younger than 30, and 40 percent were under 21. Some 40 percent of those arrested were converts to Islam
A vast majority of them were American citizens or permanent residents.
A demographic snapshot of the 71 individuals arrested on charges related to the Islamic State since March 2014, including 56 in 2015, emerged from a thorough review of social media accounts and legal documents of nearly 400 American sympathizers of ISIS conducted by researchers at George Washington University.
As for their diversity, "the individuals range from hardened militants to teenage girls, petty criminals and college students," said Lorenzo Vidino, the Director of the university’s program on extremism, which conducted the study. "The diversity is staggering."
The volume and diversity of those arrested underscore the growing challenge the FBI. and other local law enforcement agencies have to face. They're trying to identify, monitor and, if necessary, apprehend suspects at a time when ISIS has increased their appeal in the western society through social networking platforms.
"For law enforcement, it's extremely difficult to determine who makes a big leap from keyboard jihadist to doing something," said Vidino.
Despite being difficult to comprehend and stopped, U.S. authorities detected that the number of Americans that were seeking to go to Iraq and Syria have dropped. Since July 2015, an average of two American citizens have tried to travel, or successfully traveled to ISIS territory. That number is decline if compared to nine people a month in 2014.
While this is a good news, U.S. authorities that detected the trend shift believe that the impact of the group's new message is to stay at home and carry out attacks there.
The report said that more than half of those charged were arrested in an operation involving an informant or an undercover agent. This is a strategy that has caused tensions between the FBI and some American Muslims.