The increasing popularity and conventionality of social media has led to exploits of it that have contributed to the influence of many people. Take advertising as an example: any given Twitter feed includes inserted advertisements called “sponsored tweets.” Like companies that advertise, there are groups that need to get their messages to the public, and social media has become a means for just that. Unfortunately, terrorist organizations have also used social media for similar reasons to promulgate their ideas through explicit pictures and videos of violence and other hateful acts. The spreading of such acts has profound effects on its viewers. “The posts are intended to instill fear, attract new recruits and raise money on a global scale …show more content…
This can be considered questionable, especially because other graphic videos and explicit content in other forms are already rife on these social media platforms. Although many of the ideals expressed around the Internet have assured free speech and an open network on the Internet for most countries, I believe that, especially in the case of terrorism, there are special cases in which national security should be considered more important than having complete openness on the Internet. Because the terrorist media is intended to recruit members and instill fear into its viewers, I think the censorship of media intended to create further risks of public safety should be encouraged among the most popular social networks. What should not happen, in my opinion, is the censorship of the subject in total. In any given writing or visual, such as a news posting, if the result that the terrorists are trying to get is not fulfilled, then such a posting should be deemed benevolent and should be freely spread to inform the …show more content…
Evan Kohlmann, the CIO of a company that helps to combat jihadism on YouTube, says that in the past few years, Al Qaeda receded from posting videos of horrifying deaths as not to disaffect potential entrants. Therefore, beside the dramatic executions, terrorists also use social media to glorify and adorn their groups. “‘If you're fighting for human rights, how can you glorify spilling the blood of people like animals?’ Kohlmann said. ‘It doesn't scream trustworthiness. It projects an image of chaos, and one that Al Qaeda didn't want to cultivate’” (Chang and Dave). Unfortunately, social media companies are not efficient or fast at stopping terrorist use of their websites. Facebook dealt with scores of beheading and execution videos last year and leisurely picked them off individually. This effort can be preferred, because innocent content sharing news or benign posts could be stopped by an automated filter. At the same time, it does take awhile for Facebook to remove the posts, leaving them exposed and open to attract attention. According to Marvin Ammori, a 1st amendment scholar, social media networks must grapple with harmful posts, for if the companies let the terrorists’ ideas persist, they will sooner or later face legal scrutiny for supporting terrorist
In the past years, social media has grown drastically and is affecting people in many different ways. How is this happening? Those who agree social media is affecting people will convince many because of the spreading of false information, emotional appeal, and the connection social media provides to people and Cass R. Sustein, Nicholas Carr, and Eli Pariser are able to provide this information in their articles or speeches.
And the problem the social media sites are helping the NSA when we have put all of our trust and that easily it could be revoked. According to Rob D 'Ovido “Having traded our freedoms for a phantom promise of security, government eyes” (D 'Ovido). For example, Cameron Dambrosio, a teenager from Massachusetts posted a video online a rap he made about the Boston marathon bombing, the rap had references to the white house and the bombing itself, which resulted in his getting arrested in May 2013, and charging him with communicating terrorist threats, which could land him a twenty year sentence. One cannot argue that he used foul language, and said words that were ill-mannered, but that does not give the right to officials to arrest people on a basis of rap. What happen with freedom of speech? People out in the middle east are uprooting entire regimes, because they are not giving them the basic human right, like freedom of speech or privacy. For an example, look at Egypt, they have over thrown an regime that ruled for 40 years. I am not comparing those awful regimes to our government, all we need is to calculate our choices more, and the government should have more faith in the citizens. We live in an era where we are being watched by surveillance cameras 24/7, and also having our calls being tapped. Even with all the peeping toms, censorship, and the spying, freedom of speech
Religious leaders preach with such zeal and assuredness that their interpretations do not leave any room for questioning. This can be a reassuring factor to somebody who is scrutinizing their place in society. According to Hofmann and Dawson, the violent acts are acceptable under the teachings of these charismatic leaders because they are professed to be divinely inspired and acted upon by God’s will (Hofmann & Dawson 2013?, 350). These teachings performed by clerics can be distributed around the world via the internet and have become an effective strategy in recruiting people to their cause. This strategy forms the basis of a terrorist cell which can work independently of the organization while still maintaining its overall goals. This “leaderless resistance” is a term coined by a preeminent figure in the white supremacist movement (Hoffman 2006, 115). It has been adopted by many of the existing terrorist organizations including al Qaeda and has proven an effective tactic. Ironically, it has provided the leaders of terrorist groups an avenue to expand their jihadist movement to an ever increasing global
Many young women who become extremists, and join ISIS find themselves to share the similar mediocre perspective and thinking. It is no secret that ISIS is a terrorist organization of extremists Jihads that believe in the distorted views of Islam. Through social media, and other live broadcast videos, brutal and violent crimes such as, “torture, executions, and mistreatment of prisoners, hostages and civilians” are displayed, and still young women are brainwashed and attracted to join ISIS. In Cassie Shortsleeve’s recent article about how the mind of an extremist works explores the power of social influence and how the effects are dangerous. According to Shortsleeve’s ISIS uses, “fear and obedience as the two common psychological traits to
Over the past fifteen years, the use of social media by both the general public and by the business world has expanded dramatically. Social media is one of a number of social technologies - any technological device or technique that can be used to facilitate communication between individuals. Social technology includes everything from the telephone to Wikipedia. Social media, on the other hand, is the use of media platforms which were specifically create to connect users with other users and give them a peak into each other's lives by allowing them exchange information, messages, ideas, pictures, and other personal communication. However, it’s been known to abuse this rapidly growing technology.
ISIS has used social media, especially Twitter, to make themselves know to the entire world. It all started with the airing of the James Foley murder. Since then, they have gained followers in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States. This social media presence has led to many younger people not only following ISIS, but joining them. The average age of non-Middle Eastern fighters who have traveled to join ISIS. However, many social media websites have upped the ante on security in an attempt to slow down ISIS. Twitter, which is the website ISIS uses most, issued a ban of all “indirect threats of violence” (Singer).
And finally let’s talk about how social media has an impact on gangs plans and their activities. With the help of social media, people can help stop gang plans for violent crimes by catching a possible tweet or an Instagram post. They can catch it and report it to the police before anything comes to fruition. Instead, it is being used as an advantage to the gangs as they are setting plans to do their crimes through social media websites like Twitter.
As our world evolves, more and more people every day jump onto the social media train. Many people are advocates of social media because it helps them communicate. However, other people oppose the use of social media because they question its credibility. Social media’s credibility played a big role in the Boston bombing events that took place on April 15th, 2013. Two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring over 200 others (Ziv). Thus, as herds of people were rushed to the hospital or evacuated, the manhunt for the criminal responsible went on for the rest of the week. As time went on, law enforcement identified the suspects as brothers—Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. As the search narrowed
Although some might argue that the ethical merit of government surveillance is not acceptable as potential terrorists are approached by government agents acting as terrorists and instigated to carry out their plans before arresting them, these strategies are successful under legal standards as they don’t violate any laws. FBI has increased its number of agents by 40 percent for the sole purpose of countering terrorism and half of its resources are now allocated solely to countering terrorists. Online messages posted by terrorists are tracked and their publishers are tracked. FBI has devised plans to counter terrorism using intelligence-led strategies. These strategies include close monitoring of blogs and forums with extremist rhetoric to look out for potential recruits. These undercover agents, who are specially trained in various languages, then contact these individuals portraying as sleeper terrorist cells. “Posts and emails from individual suspects [are intercepted] before they catch the attention of authentic extremist organizations” (Janbek and Williams 303). These agents befriend these suspects and earn their trust by giving them support and advice and by acting as their source of guidance. Once they are acquainted, plans are devised and even resources are provided by the FBI, like fake bombs to their suspect. Throughout this process the suspect is given chances to abandon his plan and they even try to dissuade him. If the suspect is adamant in carrying out his mission then he is arrested while buying illegal weapons, fleeing the country or while detonating these fake bombs. An American teenager, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, was placed on the FBI watch list when he posted on a site which was titled “A call for Jihad in Syria”. Before his message could have reached the authentic recruiter for
Social media has a variety of platforms, allowing individuals to freely articulate their opinions to a large audience. This tool has it’s benefits as people can join together to raise awareness to certain matters but there is also a cruel downside to the public use of social media. In Jon Ronson’s article, “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life”, he distinctly reveals that the use of social media for debate/dissent/social and political change brings together a large audience to improve our society in difference to trolling, bullying and public shaming where there is an outstanding victim looked down upon through a widespread of individuals. These two differences stem from the belief of one that they are informing an individual of their wrong doing they are in fact leading on a greater attack than intended. The concept behind“social media is so perfectly designed to manipulate
Social media plays a big role in today’s society. It connects many people to the world and what is going on around them. In addition, it is a great tool that can be used to access information without having to watch the news. Although it is a useful contraption, it can influence and damage the way people comprehend certain issues. Recently, everything that is associated with law enforcement is antagonized everywhere, from the news to social media.
Americans have a more active role on social media since they can participate in the content creation (Harvey 427). With this audience interaction, users reinforce echo chambers by reposting partisan content and affiliating with like-minded people (Harvey 427). Even more, social media networks use algorithms that lead their users towards articles aligning with their own ideological preferences (NPR Staff). This is described as a filter bubble, which is “when websites [use] algorithms to selectively assume the information a user would want to see, and [give] information to the user according to [the] assumption” (What Is a Filter Bubble?). These algorithms are made with the purpose of “[increasing] engagement, and [increasing] the amount of attention [spent] on” the social network (NPR Staff).
First of all, freedom of speech on social media. Social media is strongly developing nowadays. On social media, free speech is everywhere. Noel Diem demonstrates “it is a way for some people to vent their anger without feeling self-conscious, nervous, or upset without resorting to violent actions” (3). Americans feel free to speak out their opinions and feelings at everywhere, even on social media. Everyone can acknowledge that people might
In mere minutes, any active user can access information and associations regarding various causes, such as the riots happening in Egypt and the Middle East. Teenagers, in the Middle East, used their Facebook accounts to campaign the “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia. Helping to set the Arab riots in motion, the event demanded elections, freedom for women, and the liberation of political prisoners. The activists’ goals to bring democracy to Egypt and removing Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s fourth president from 1981 to 2011, still continue and perhaps with the assistance of Facebook they will accomplish these ambitions. The causes campaigned through Facebook have served as a fundraise...
"Internet Has Become Haven For Terrorists, Hate Groups: Wiesenthal Centre." Canadian Press, The (n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.