** ** Islamist Terrorists Shifting from Web to Social Media****
Facebook, Twitter grapple with terrorists' use of social media for**** messaging, communications**** http://freebeacon.com/islamist-terrorists-shifting-from-web-to-social-media/ **** ** ** ** ** BY: Bill Gertz **** October 23, 2013 4:59 am**** ** ** Social media giants Facebook and Twitter are grappling with terrorists who** ** are moving from websites to microblogs as a way to spread propaganda,**** recruit members, and communicate.**** ** ** U.S. officials familiar with efforts to monitor social media say Islamist*** * terrorists have increased their use of social media in recent months.**** ** ** Currently, numerous U.S. and allied intelligence agencies are engaged in**** large-scale efforts to monitor online activities by Islamists, jihadists,*** * and terrorists.**** ** ** Based on those agencies' reports, the intelligence services are having a**** difficult time balancing the need to keep track of terrorist group members** ** and their statements when the Twitter and Facebook accounts are shut down*** * for advocating violence or otherwise promoting illegal activities.**** ** ** On the one hand, spy agencies want social media to allow some of the**** terrorists' Twitter and Facebook accounts to remain open to keep tabs on**** them. The postings often can provide clues to online friends' and followers' **** locations and in some cases they can be traced electronically.**** ** ** In most cases, terrorists' accounts that are closed or suspended for**** advocating violence are quickly re-opened using slightly different names.*** * ** ** But problems arise when social media accounts used by terrorists are taken** ** offline, complicating real-time intelligence monitoring. In many cases it*** * takes up to 18 hours to locate the new accounts that reappear under new**** names.**** ** ** "They often come to us and say 'do not take down these accounts,'" one**** social media executive said of the U.S. government.**** ** ** The problem of counterterrorism monitoring of social media took center stage **** last month during the attack by the Somali al Qaeda Al Shabaab on the**** Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya. In the midst of the deadly attack, which*** * killed 68 shoppers and storekeepers, Al Shabaab opened multiple Twitter**** accounts, each replacing one that was deactivated by the site.**** ** ** In all, the group operated seven Twitter accounts that were closed before*** * another was opened.**** ** ** The social media communications by Al Shabaab were the first time a**** terrorist group made public statements during an ongoing attack. The**** messages by the group were mainly propaganda statements explaining the goals **** of the attack. But all were closely followed by international news media and **** security services for clues to the group's plans and operations.**** ** ** Terrorists also have used YouTube to post videos. Syrian rebels uploaded**** several videos showing Islamists beheading people, including a Catholic**** priest, and in two cases video showed jihadists eating the internal organs** ** of killed Syrian soldiers.**** ** ** The videos were eventually removed for violating the YouTube's terms of**** service prohibiting the promotion of violence or criminal activity.**** ** ** Twitter and Facebook officials declined comment on the record. But spokesmen **** for both said the companies try to balance concerns for security and**** stopping criminal activity with the need for free speech and openness.**** ** ** Company spokesmen discussed some aspects of their policies on dealing**** generally with abuses, including terrorist on social media, on condition of* *** anonymity.**** ** ** The spokesmen for both social media outlets referred to online statements of **** policy that prohibit advocating violence or threats, and also ban illegal*** * activities.**** ** ** Additionally, Twitter and Facebook declined to discuss their interaction**** with government on counterterrorism. They instead pointed to online policy** ** statements governing the sharing of members' data with law enforcement and** ** implicitly with U.S. intelligence. Both companies require court orders or*** * subpoenas before granting access to user data. Search warrants are needed*** * for access to communications.**** ** ** Twitter user profile data is public, as are Tweets. Facebook's format allows **** more private social interaction although it remains a very open media with** ** few restrictions on content or users.**** ** ** "At Facebook, we have rules that bar direct statements of hate, attacks on** ** private individuals and groups, and the promotion of terrorism," a Facebook* *** spokesman said. "Where hateful content is posted and reported, Facebook**** removes it and disables accounts of those responsible."**** ** ** The problem for both Twitter and Facebook is the vast numbers of accounts*** * and huge numbers of postings. Neither company actively monitors the millions **** of Tweets and billions of Facebook postings placed online each day.**** ** ** Facebook users post 4.75 billion pieces of content every day. The company*** * could not provide statistics for the number of reports of abuse by**** Islamists.**** ** ** Instead, the company relies exclusively on users to report abuses of**** Facebook's terms of service. Facebook has teams of specialists who respond** ** to reports of abuse review the cases.**** ** ** "When that happens, a user operations team reviews that content, and sees if **** it violates the terms of service," the spokesman said. "If it does, it will* *** be taken down quickly and the user is notified."**** ** ** The most serious violations are easily corrected, and include postings of*** * child pornography or stolen private information.**** ** ** In the case of terrorist groups, technically and legally the groups are**** permitted to operate Facebook accounts if the content does not violate the** ** terms of service. But the company weighs a number of legal and other factors **** in its decisions to close or leave open objectionable accounts.**** ** ** Like Facebook, Twitter does not actively monitor content and relies on users **** to report cases of abuse.**** ** ** There are some 500 million Tweets sent out each day in over 36 languages.*** * ** ** The company receives hundreds of abuse reports daily often with requests to* *** close accounts. Several Twitter teams operating in different time zones also **** review the reports. In many cases the requests are dismissed because the**** reports falsely identified violations of the terms of services.**** ** ** On the Westgate terror attack, one official said dealing with Al Shabaab**** Twitter accounts was "like playing wack-a-mole" - once an account was**** shuttered, another would open within hours.**** ** ** In other cases, apparent terrorist Twitter accounts are reported and after** ** review are found to be accounts by people masquerading as terrorists.**** ** ** Twitter also seeks to promote free speech, within its rules. The company is* *** also global and as a result must seek to comply with the laws within the**** countries it operates. For example, Germany has stricter laws against**** anti-Semitism than the United States. So the company applies filters for**** Germany that block anti-Semitic Tweets.**** ** ** Twitter teams that review objectionable content are made up of a variety of* *** security, civil liberties, linguists and others who consult on reported**** abuses.**** ** ** The company also has a strict rule against discussing individual Twitter**** accounts.**** ** ** The U.S. officials said few terrorist groups today do not have a presence on **** Twitter or Facebook, a marked change from several years ago.**** ** ** Last month, a significant milestone for the terrorists' use of social media* *** was met when al Qaeda's official online website opened its first Twitter**** account. Until September, the al Qaeda-approved, Shamukh al-Islam website*** * was password protected and used only by approved members. It was used as an* *** official clearing house for al Qaeda members to communicate and issue**** propaganda statements.**** ** ** But on Sept. 24, the group opened its first Twitter account and officials*** * said it reflected the group's desire to try and patch up a rift within the** ** group over Syria.**** ** ** The Twitter account was temporarily shut down, but later reopened.**** ** ** Among the jihadists, there is also discussion of infiltration and deception* *** by security services that are seeking to spy on the groups or disrupt their* *** activities.**** ** ** For example, one online jihadist posted a message last week about a wave of* *** jihadists' Twitter accounts that were hacked and disabled and warned about** ** intelligence services targeting online jihadists.**** ** ** For Facebook, the Libyan al Qaeda-affiliated group Ansar al Sharia has used* *** its Arabic-language page to promote the idea that the group is no longer a** ** terrorist group and seeks instead to conduct community service projects.**** ** ** Ansar al Sharia is the new face of al Qaeda in North Africa with branches in **** Darna and Benghazi.**** ** ** It was the group behind the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic**** compound in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher**** Stevens and three other Americans.**** ** ** In Syria, the al Qaeda group Al Nusrah Front, uses Twitter on a daily basis* *** to announce its attacks and "martyrdom operations."**** ** ** Asian al Qaeda-affiliated groups also have accounts on Twitter and Facebook. **** ** ** ==========================================**** (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this **** message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. 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