Jihadists on Twitter
By Jamal Umar
August 08, 203
(Translated from Arabic by New Age Islam Edit Desk)
From Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), terrorists are increasingly turning to Twitter to spread their message. It came in a new report made by the Combating Terrorism Centre titled "Tweeting for the Caliphate". It says: “Twitter has become the new beacon for jihadist propaganda and, more importantly, a free zone for extremist users online”.
By posting links on Twitter, terror networks such as AQIM, Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Shabaab are able to guide followers to YouTube videos and other media to aid in the radical recruitment effort. According to the report, these jihadists decided to engage in physical violence after being active within the virtual dominions of al-Qaeda, where exposure to the media had an impact on their personal lives and understanding of religious conduct. Touareg security analyst Abdelhamid al-Ansari opines that the interest in alterative communications is not new for al-Qaeda.
The terror group has always used the latest technology to transmit its message in the best possible way, with the least possible cost to its followers and leaders, and to recruit the maximum number of youths. Al-Qaeda and related movements began using e-mails even before the dramatic proliferation of websites. Before that, they would use faxes and newspapers. This can be confirmed by how jihad began in Algeria. For example, if we check the history of al-Qaeda, the mother organisation of terrorist activities in Afghanistan before being chased all over the world, we can see that they had journals and publications.
All these evidences prove that al-Qaeda had always sought to communicate via modern technology with members and recruits despite stiff restrictions and monitoring. This helps us appreciate the proverb that necessity is the mother of invention. Since al-Qaeda is in constant need to communicate, they always invent means and mechanisms to bypass censorship. Syed Ahmed Ould Atefal, a journalist who has met young terrorists recruited in Mauritania, is of the view that Al-Qaeda relies on people with vast technological experience to propagate their message.
In fact, these tech-savvy people enjoy a high position within the terrorist organisation for the simple reason that al-Qaeda is a virtual world and its virtual world is much bigger than its real world. Its members are up-to-date when it comes to methods of communication and have considerable experience in encrypting messages. The interest in new technologies has reached all branches of al-Qaeda, but the Maghreb branch of al-Qaeda has specificity. Youth of Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian origins are the most skilled in so-called piracy and stealth techniques.
Professor and political analyst Ahmed Ould Ammar explained that al-Qaeda also paid special attention to the content of its online messaging. Experienced al-Qaeda elements post tweets targeting youth from oppressed countries who consider the West the cause of the injustice and oppression that they are experiencing. Thus these youth are prepared to react and retaliate.
They are also targeting another kind of youth, those descendants from marginalised ethnic groups who have reached an advanced stage of frustration and feel injustice. This group is thus ready to seek a confrontation in order to vent anger. Here the role of al-Qaeda comes into play, directing that feeling along a path that ends with youth convinced that al-Qaeda is the ultimate saviour.
Al-Qaeda is lurking to ensnare young people through Twitter. And by reading the tweets of young people, the terrorists get an intimate look at likely targets for recruitment. They always seek youth with tweets that express rebellion against society.
URL for the Arabic article: https://www.newageislam.com/arabic-section/jihadists-twitter-/d/12958
URL for this article: https://newageislam.com/islam-media/jihadists-twitter/d/13053