In 2014, a video entitled ‘A Message to
America’ which directly addressed the US President, Barack Obama, was uploaded
to video-sharing social networking site, YouTube.
This video depicted 40 year old American
photo journalist James Foley. He was seen dressed in an orange jumpsuit
kneeling on the floor at the hands of terrorist militants, Isis as he was
violently beheaded. As the views grew, the video was rapidly circulated across
all social media platforms, including, but not limited to, Facebook, YouTube
and Twitter. Trending worldwide on twitter were terms such as #ISIS #JamesFoley
and #IslamicState.
These videos and images have been produced by
terrorist’s organisations with the intention of creating a state of fear
throughout the western world, and that by sending out this message they create
an illusion of their power and of intimidation. By continuing to distribute
this message, you are promoting this statement, and giving them the publicity
and attention they crave.
Not only
do terrorist organisations use social media to spread their message of hate,
they also use it as a recruitment tool, depending on sites such as Facebook,
Twitter and Skype to contact potential extremists all over the world.
Ashford, W (2015) Social media the main cyber terror
threat facing the UK, says former MI6 officer[Blog] ComputerWeekly.
Available from: http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500255638/Social-media-the-main-cyber-terror-threat-facing-the-UK-says-former-MI6-officer
Imran, A (2014) Debating the
term Cyber-Terrorism: Issues and Problems. Internet
Journal of Criminology
The Telegraph Online (2014) How terrorists are using social media. 04
November. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11207681/How-terrorists-are-using-social-media.html
Wholeheartedly agree. If the terrorist in question did not have the means to project their act across the world they would not be as feared as they are. It is the sharing and growth of the images, videos etc. that makes their presence known and brings it into the homes of the western world. It is not the power of the act. It is the power you give the act that makes it what it becomes.
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