Published 28 August 2014
Social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram have all become a staple of everyday Western lifestyles – and these avenues have also become more interesting for terrorists to exploit to advance their goals. These companies admit, however, that curbing free speech and screening violent and hateful content does involve walking a fine line.
Following the posting of the beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), analysts are pointing to the emerging role of social media in the tactics and response to terrorism.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, as social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram have all become a staple of everyday Western lifestyles – and these avenues have also become more interesting for terrorists to exploit to advance their goals.
“Social media is at the heart of their jihad,” said Steve Stalinsky, the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
As was the case with the Foley execution video, the use of posting on these platforms is meant to instill fear, attract the eyes of those who might be recruited, and raise money through awareness.
Now, however, three of those large social media companies — YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook — are choosing to remove extreme examples of violence and terror. Users, too, are incorporating campaigns to filter and not give terrorists the upper hand with digital coverage.
Once the Foley video began to circulate, YouTube blocked the video, arguing the company prevents the posting of videos on many subjects, such as weapons construction and violence.
“YouTube has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts,” said a company spokesperson, “We also terminate any account registered by a member of a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and used in an official capacity to further its interests.”
Twitter and Facebook users also aimed to curb the sharing of the video out of respect for the victims and prevent ISIS from gaining notoriety. The hashtag “#ISISMediaBlackout
quickly began to trend on both services.
Facebook reports that it has “teams around the world” that are reviewing content related to the Foley beheading, and in certain cases leading to the company is removing the posts.
These companies admit, however, that curbing free speech and screening violent and hateful content does involve walking a fine line.
“The problem is that the boundary is hard to define,” said Marvin Ammori, a First Amendment scholar and a fellow at the New America Foundation.
www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com
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