{"id":251,"date":"2016-12-13T21:24:23","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T21:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/?p=251"},"modified":"2017-01-20T17:32:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T17:32:21","slug":"terrorist-propaganda-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/2016\/12\/13\/terrorist-propaganda-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Terrorist Propaganda Online &#8211; How ISIS have Capitalised Twitter and What You can do to Fight Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the first blog post from <strong>Logged Into Terrorism.<\/strong> This week&#8217;s focus is on <strong>Online Propaganda<\/strong>, specifically looking at Twitter and the way ISIS have capitalised it.<\/p>\n<h2>Vital Information<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Terrorist propaganda is now mainly spread online.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Terrorists\u00a0are hijacking trends on Twitter to promote their message.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Over 360,000 terrorist-related accounts suspended on Twitter.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>You need to use the report feature to save lives<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_271\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-271\" style=\"width: 1113px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-271\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/twitter-292988_1280.jpg\" alt=\"Twitter on Phone by LoboStudioHamburg Pixabay\" width=\"1113\" height=\"742\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/twitter-292988_1280.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/twitter-292988_1280-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/twitter-292988_1280-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/twitter-292988_1280-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1113px) 100vw, 1113px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-271\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By Lobo Studio Hamburg\/ Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>What is Propaganda?<\/h2>\n<p>To get<strong> you<\/strong> up to speed the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.oxforddictionaries.com\/definition\/propaganda\">Oxford English Dictionary<\/a>\u00a0 defines Propaganda as:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>&#8220;Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Terrorists can use this to spread their biased messages in the forms of Video, Images and text. The rise of the internet has created a new platform for Terrorist propaganda which allows them to reach a global audience.<\/p>\n<h2>Propaganda has Changed<\/h2>\n<p>Before the internet existed, propaganda was spread by public speeches, monuments and the use of printed words or images. Through time the likes of radio and TV have also given an output.<\/p>\n<p>However, for content promoting terrorism to be shown on TV it would have to go through strict regulations. This leads to the content being manipulated and losing its key message or not being shown at all. This is due to company\u2019s such as the BBC not wanting to be associated with such terrorist organisations as it could damage their reputation and credibility.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bl.uk\/socialscience\/2013\/08\/the-internet-social-media-and-propaganda-the-final-frontier.html\">Dr Peter Johnston<\/a>\u00a0believes the growth of the internet has transformed propaganda beyond anything from earlier generations. This online world brings a new form of communication in which anyone can say anything to anyone in the world with very little repercussions. In the hands of Terrorists, this is dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Many have linked the use of online terrorist propaganda to the increase of recruitment, especially in ISIS\u2019 ranks. Recruitment will be investigated further in the next post but for now, check out <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.businessinsider.com\/isis-is-revolutionizing-international-terrorism-2015-5\">Business Insiders report on ISIS\u2019 crucial recruiting tactic.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Through the use of websites and social media accounts, terrorists now have direct control over their content and who they target online. They can even manipulate their own image and the image of their enemies. This allows groups such as ISIS to spread their views rapidly across the world which could have a negative impact on audiences. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/testimonies\/the-evolution-of-terrorist-propaganda-the-paris-attack-and-social-media\/\">Research by J.M. Berger<\/a> showed ISIS having over <strong>45,000 twitter accounts in 2014<\/strong> but with the internet thriving this number may be increasing as we speak.<\/p>\n<p>Over at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LogIntoTerror\">@LogIntoTerror on Twitter<\/a>, a Poll showed that 67% agreed with the internet being the global hub for Terrorism.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_258\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-258\" style=\"width: 414px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LogIntoTerror\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-258\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/Twitter-Poll-on-internet-being-a-global-hub-300x212.jpg\" alt=\"Twitter Poll at Logged Into Terrorism asking if the Internet has become a global hub for terrorism \" width=\"414\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/Twitter-Poll-on-internet-being-a-global-hub-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/Twitter-Poll-on-internet-being-a-global-hub.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 414px) 100vw, 414px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By @LogIntoTerror on Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Propaganda\u00a0on Twitter<\/h2>\n<p>Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post short 140-character messages called &#8220;tweets&#8221;. Using retweets and hashtags, content can be shared and found.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest terrorist groups ISIS used twitter to spread their messages during the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/iraq-crisis-exclusive-isis-jihadists-using-world-cup-and-premier-league-hashtags-to-promote-9555167.html\">2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.<\/a> Now they didn\u2019t cause any physical harm but instead hijacked trends on Twitter. Using the hashtags <strong>#Brazil2014<\/strong>, <strong>#ENF<\/strong> and <strong>#WorldCup2014<\/strong> allowed ISIS to implement their tweets into the trend. The tweets linked audiences to propaganda of British jihadists trying to persuade other western Muslims to join their ranks. The aim was to mislead football fans across the world and take them down an ISIS propaganda filled road.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_274\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-274\" style=\"width: 425px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-274\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/isis-behead-man.jpg\" alt=\"isis behead police officer and used in twitter hashtag of the 2014 world cup \" width=\"425\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/isis-behead-man.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/isis-behead-man-285x300.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The image above was tweeted by a member of ISIS which shows a <strong>decapitated police officer<\/strong>. As <strong>you<\/strong> can see hashtags are used to hijack the World Cup Trend. \u00a0This sickening image is then seen by audiences of all ages. However, they are exposed to the uncensored version.<\/p>\n<p>The fact ISIS or any terrorist organisation has the potential to spread propaganda in one click to millions of people is a very concerning issue. This is something that is very hard to prevent.<\/p>\n<p>Another example of Terrorist power on Twitter is through videos. On the 20th August 2014, ISIS published a video on Twitter which involved the beheading of <strong>American journalist James Foley<\/strong>. <a href=\"http:\/\/cjlab.memri.org\/latest-reports\/isiss-use-of-twitter-other-u-s-social-media-to-disseminate-images-videos-of-islamic-religious-punishments-beheading-crucifixion-stoning-burning-drowning-throwing-from-buildings\/\">Read more here (WARNING Graphic Content).<\/a> Through retweets, this video went viral immediately creating a moral panic. It spread on a global scale being posted on sites such as Facebook and YouTube. It even dictated offline media outlets like TV and print to display the events.<\/p>\n<p>This demonstrates how the social media has given terrorist propaganda insane power. It can now influence not only<strong> you<\/strong> but nearly any media company.<\/p>\n<h2>It&#8217;s Not all Doom and Gloom<\/h2>\n<p>Even though it may look like terrorists are running part of the internet it\u2019s not true. Twitter has now taken an aggressive approach to Terrorist activity on their site. Since mid-2015 <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/19\/technology\/twitter-suspends-accounts-extremism.html?_r=0\">Twitter has deleted more than 360,000 accounts<\/a><\/strong> linked to terrorists. The company uses human judgment and technology to scan millions of accounts for terrorist-related activity. The results displayed seem to be successful. However, this does link to J.M. Berger\u2019s 2014 research showing that there has been evident growth in the number of terrorist twitter accounts.<\/p>\n<p>This approach will surely limit the way propaganda is spread on twitter feeds. It may even force terrorists to look elsewhere to promote content.<br \/>\nAlthough, it could be argued that this won\u2019t stop terrorists on twitter completely. The issue is ISIS supporters will create new accounts after they are suspended on Twitter. This new profile will then be retweeted by other ISIS-related twitter accounts. Therefore, they regain their followers and are free to start posting propaganda again. This creates a loophole in twitters banning system which really needs to be fixed.<\/p>\n<h3>How you can help!<\/h3>\n<p>This is where <strong>you<\/strong> come in. If <strong>you<\/strong> do see any terrorist activity on twitter or any social media platform make sure to flag it up by using the <strong>report feature<\/strong>. Just think<strong> you<\/strong> could be saving lives.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_282\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-282\" style=\"width: 952px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-282\" src=\"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/How-to-report-on-Twitter.jpg\" alt=\"how-to-report-on-twitter\" width=\"952\" height=\"743\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/How-to-report-on-Twitter.jpg 1071w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/How-to-report-on-Twitter-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/How-to-report-on-Twitter-768x599.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2016\/12\/How-to-report-on-Twitter-1024x798.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-282\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By @LogIntoTerror on Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">To report a post on Twitter simply click on the three dots under a tweet and click &#8216;Report Tweet&#8217;. Finally select the appropriate options and submit. Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/support.twitter.com\/articles\/20169998\">Twitter Support<\/a> for more info.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Hope <strong>you<\/strong> found this blog post informative, giving <strong>you<\/strong> vital information about the way propaganda has evolved and the way terrorists are using twitter to promote their views.<\/p>\n<p>To help prevent any confusion or disconnect from what online terrorist propaganda is, make sure <strong>you<\/strong> share this blog using the links below.<br \/>\nThanks for reading. Next week\u2019s topic will focus on Recruitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the first blog post from Logged Into Terrorism. This week&#8217;s focus is on Online Propaganda, specifically looking at Twitter and the way ISIS have capitalised it. Vital Information Terrorist propaganda is now mainly spread online. Terrorists\u00a0are hijacking trends on Twitter to promote their message. Over 360,000 terrorist-related accounts suspended on Twitter. You need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,8,3,9],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":739,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/connorbean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}