How and Why Do Terrorist Organizations Use the Internet? (original) (raw)
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The Use of Media by Militant Organisations in the Middle East: from Paper to Cyber
Media is important for militant organisations. Regardless whether they are classified as terrorist or not, militant organisations in parallel to their military activities endeavour to use media and adopt new communication technologies to transmit their messages, advance their objectives and ultimately win their wars. As stated by the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, media was ‘the oxygen’ for the Irish Republican Army, during its bloody clashes with the British government in 1980s. Recognising the importance of media and its role in wars and conflicts, some militant organisations in the Middle East have established what so called Military Media Units, via which they produce statements, broadcast films about their military activities and further their propaganda. This paper provides background information about the use of the media by militant organisations in Asia and Europe and traces historically the use of the media by the militant organisations in the Middle East. In this context, it sheds light on how militant organisations transmit their messages either through their own media, or other media outlets, how they frame their identities and how they embed their messages with ideology and cultural values. Moreover, this paper sheds light on how militant organisations, utilising the developments in communication technology started broadcasting online and/or via satellite television channels. Specifically, this paper discusses the use of media by Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Palestinian guerrillas as well as by Iraqi and Syrian insurgents. It concludes that although the militant organisations in the Middle East have utilised the new communication technologies, especially the online revolution, their main focus is to approach wider audience through broadcasting their messages via satellite television channels. Keywords: Middle East, Militant Organisation, Military Media
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Introduction The speed at which terrorist and extremist groups have embraced the possibilities offered by the Internet has been reflected in the sheer number of websites espousing support for terrorists, white supremacists and radical Islamic militants, among many others. Levin (2002) partially explains the growth of internet use by extremists and terrorists with reference to its economical and ‘far reaching’ nature. The speed of Internet acquisition may also be attributed to its inherent nature; it is easy to access with a chaotic structure that facilitates anonymity, and an international character that affords an easy and effective arena for action (Tsafti & Weimann 2002). While violence remains essential to the terrorist movement for the psychological impact of terrorism, the Internet provides a safe, easy and cheap means of communicating, disseminating propaganda, gathering intelligence, promoting support, demonising the enemy and raising funds.
Jihadist terrorism has discovered in the Internet a valuable instrument to strengthen its activities. However, in using this technology the terrorists are exposed to new vulnerabilities. The Internet plays a leveling role: each new advantageous use it brings is accompanied by a new opportunity to weaken terrorist groups. The present article examines the main vulnerabilities of radical groups who have accorded the Internet a central role in their strategy, namely, less anonymity and security, a loss of content visibility, a major credibility problem, and an undermining of the legitimacy of the terrorist discourse as a consequence of their use of Web 2.0.
Terrorist Online Propaganda and Radicalisation: Special Issue Introduction
The Internet is a transformative technology that terrorists are exploiting for spreading propaganda and radicalising new recruits. While al-Qaeda has a longer history, Islamic State is conducting a modern and sophisticated media campaign centered around online social networking. This article introduces and contextualizes the contributions to this Special Issue by examining some of the ways in which terrorists make use of the Internet as part of their broader media strategies. This is the original, submitted version of a manuscript subsequently accepted for publication (on 2 November 2015), and now forthcoming in the Taylor & Francis journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=uter20#.VoD-GzY\_Wu4
Violent Extremism and the Internet, Between Foreign Fighters and Terrorist Financing
Digital Jihad. Online Communication and Violent Extremism, 2019
This chapter aims to concisely examine the current relationship between violent extremism and the tools offered by digital communication technologies, particularly the Web. As is well-known, the internet has become a crucial environment for violent extremism and for terrorism across the ideological spectrum. The Web can perform different functions in this field. This chapter presents and discusses six areas of application, in decreasing order of proximity to the actual use of violence: 1) cyberattacks; 2) dissemination of operational instructions; 3) hacking and “doxing”; 4) recruitment and terrorist “virtual entrepreneurship”; 5) propaganda; 6) financing.