// posted by andreshb // 04.15.2008 at 1:37 am //

Terrorist Jihad 2.0: Part 1

This is a subject that requires a more in-depth analysis and I will probably cover it across the span of several posts.  It has been reported widely on how effective terrorist groups are using the internet to operate, but mostly, for recruitment or social media terrorist marketing.  Kevin from buzznetworker prompted us to look into these groups and how they are using social media.

For starters, let’s consider that after 9/11 Al’Qaeda has been forced to go underground, leaving the internet as one of their safest marketing channels. Whereas in the 80’s their ranks where the afghans that had been forced out to pakistan that rallied against the soviets, or in the 90’s, when the members were expatriates that had studied in the west and came to afghanistan for the training camps, today the growing number of their membership are wanna-be terrorists in the west that find each other and collaborate on message boards and video sharing sites. In the upcoming weeks we will look into this trend and study their practice to go in depth into what the director of national intelligence has warned as:

Mr. McConnell also warned the Senate panel about the growing threat of “cyberattacks” by terror groups or homegrown militants. He said President Bush signed a classified directive in January outlining steps to protect American computer networks.(source: NYT)      

Or as a recent foreign policy magazine article described:

It consists mostly of would-be terrorists, who, angered by the invasion of Iraq, aspire to join the movement and the men they hail as heroes. But it is nearly impossible for them to link up with al Qaeda Central, which was forced underground after 9/11. Instead, they form fluid, informal networks that are self-financed and self-trained. They have no physical headquarters or sanctuary, but the tolerant, virtual environment of the Internet offers them a semblance of unity and purpose. Theirs is a scattered, decentralized social structure—a leaderless jihad.(source: FP Magazine)      

How do terrorist groups use social media and how efficient is it? Are these organized by the organization leaders in a top-down manner, or is it inspired radicals that attempt to emulate or create their own social web terrorist movement?

// Tagged terrorism, social movement, Featured