The Power of Social Media for Terrorists

A bomb exploded earlier today in Mogadishu as the Somali Prime Minister addressed guests during a ceremony at the National Theater. At least six people were reportedly killed, though the Prime Minister was not hurt. While officials claim the attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber, a Somali terrorist group denies this claim and says that they planted explosives in the venue prior to the event.

In fact, Al Shabaab - the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia - claimed responsibility for this bombing on Twitter.

Prior to the emergence of social media, terrorist groups were forced to claim responsibility through video, audio or written messages which they sent to media outlets, or more recently messages posted on jihadist message boards. The fact that terrorist groups can now tweet their claim of responsibility, and in turn supporters can "follow" a terrorist group while at the same time "following" their favorite comedian or sports team, breaks down the barriers that used to make terrorist groups so exclusive and elite. Twitter, along with Facebook and YouTube, have made inaccessible far-reaching terrorist groups feel as if they are in your backyard. Social media has allowed anyone to be a member of a terrorist group, without really being a member - once someone decides to retweet or repost a terrorist message, they can feel as if they are part of the movement, whether or not they have any actual contact with anyone else.

Al Shabaab in particular has been very successful at recruiting Westerners into their group - at least 40 Americans have traveled from the US to Somalia to join Al Shabaab since 2007. Their active use of Twitter - and tweeting in the English language - can only help their movement grow as more and more Westerners sympathize with their cause.

Putting Down the Keyboard and Picking Up a Weapon

Earlier this week I spoke at The Government Security Conference and Expo (or GovSec) about online extremism and the online behaviors that may potentially lead to an individual abandoning their avatar and carrying out violence in the real world. 

For a more thorough summary of my talk, check out Government Computer News (GCN) and their article on it here: When Does Online Radicalism Become Real-World Terrorism?  

For a more detailed description, or for inquiries about speaking engagements, contact me. 

Virtual Behavior Can Predict Real Life Behavior

The more I explore the online behaviors of extremists, the more I am reassured that my work has some meaning. Yesterday, a young boy shot and killed three high school students and injured two others at Chardon High School, incidentally a school very close to where I grew up. Thomas "TJ" Lane, 17, the alleged shooter, reportedly tweeted prior to the attack that he would be bringing a gun to school that day. Furthermore, he has also made some questionable remarks on Facebook. In December 2011, for instance, Lane reportedly wrote a poem on Facebook about a lonely man who nobody paid attention to. In the middle of the poem he declares:

I'm on the lamb but I ain't no sheep. I am Death. And you have always been the sod. So repulsive and so odd. 

He then ends the poem by saying:

Now! Feel death, not just mocking you. Not just stalking you but inside of you. Wriggle and writhe. Feel smaller beneath my might. Seizure in the Pestilence that is my scythe. Die, all of you. 

Lane clearly had some troubling thoughts, but what is more important is that fact that he posted these thoughts publicly on Facebook. An article in the New York Times last week discusses the issue of posting intimate thoughts on Facebook. The article, Trying to Find a Cry of Desperation Amid the Facebook Drama, explains that people who publicly post troubling thoughts on Facebook are looking for an intervention of some sort.


The reality is, it is often difficult to know when someone is actually looking for help, or when someone just really had a bad day and needed to vent a little. But perhaps in this era where outsourcing safety procedures to citizens is the norm (i.e. the "See Something, Say Something" campaign or the recent DARPA challenge to track down signs and post them on a social networking site), maybe it is time for citizens - particularly parents and teachers - to be educated on spotting problem posts on social media. In light of Lane's tweet that he was bringing a gun to school, I think the "See Something, Say Something" campaign should be applied to more than just a suspicious package. Suspicious posts must be taken more seriously. Of course some will inevitably sneak through the cracks, but concerned citizens can play a bigger role in policing social media, not just by reporting problematic videos, but individual behaviors as well.

Interview on Counterterrorism and Social Media

Check out my interview yesterday on counterterrorism and social media on My Technology Lawyer Radio. Want to hear even more? Come to the GovSec 2012 Conference in DC April 2-4, or contact me for a speaking engagement.

NSA Email Addresses Posted on Jihadi Forum

Just a couple of days after the hacking network Anonymous revealed that they intercepted phone calls between the FBI and Scotland Yard, another government agency has been compromised. More than 200 email addresses, many of them accompanied by full names, of NSA employees has been published on a jihadi forum. The post explains that this list was previously posted on a different site a few days ago.

I cannot confirm that the email address and names are authentic, but it definitely demonstrates the extremists' interest in getting these emails.  Between hacking and spamming, 2012 certainly has experienced a great deal of activity so far.

Two Americans indicted in separate plots, both influenced by the Internet

Two Americans indicted in the US today could not be more different. Craig Benedict Baxam, a former US soldier who grew up in Maryland, was arrested in Kenya after trying to travel to Somalia to join the terrorist group Al Shabaab. He converted to Islam in July 2011 while serving in the army. Sami Osmakac, who was born in the former Yugoslavia and lived in Pinellas Park, Florida, planned to go on a bombing and shooting rampage in Florida. Why would I write about these men together, then? For one simple reason: The Internet played a role in the progression from regular guy to alleged terrorist for both of these men.

Baxam first learned about Islam while surfing the web and reading an article about the Day of Judgement on an Islamic religious website, according to the criminal complaint. After learning about Islam online, he secretly converted to Islam, which he could only have learned how to do from the Internet. Prior to traveling abroad to join Al Shabaab, Baxam destroyed his computer so that law enforcement could not obtain any of his online history.

Osmakac, on the other hand, was not as careful to hide his online posts. He was very active on YouTube, where he recorded a number of videos about converting to Islam, the importance of pleasing Allah and the issues surrounding assimilating in America and enjoying American life.

Both Baxam and Osmakac followed very different paths of radicalization and mobilization, but in the end it was the Internet that facilitated much of this progression.

Terrorist leader's son instructs American on YouTube propaganda video

A legal US resident pleaded guilty last week to providing material support to the Pakistani-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) by making a propaganda video and distributing it on the Internet. Jubair Ahmed, who moved from Pakistan to Virginia at the age of 19, attended LeT terrorist training camps as a teenager. After moving to the US, he made a propaganda video with guidance from Talha Saeed, the LeT leader’s son, and posted the video to YouTube.

It is interesting that the son of a high profile terrorist leader is spending his time instructing some lowly recruit on how to create a propaganda video. Just goes to show how important terrorist groups find the use of social media to propagate their ideology.

The video, titled “Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Qunoot e Nazila Very Emotional,” consists of a prayer by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the leader of LeT, calling for the support of jihad and the mujahideen. Email me if you’d like a copy of the video.