ISIS & media (catch all)

[Bill Moore]

Terror on Twitter, by P.W. Singer and Emerson Brooking (Popular Science)
How ISIS is taking war to social media-and social media is fighting back

http://www.popsci.com/terror-on-twit...o-social-media

The core of ISIS is seasoned veterans of the Iraqi insurgency that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion. Well versed in the power of the media, they have been joined by a new generation of Millennial recruits. The average age of foreign fighters who traveled to join ISIS is 24, meaning tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are what they've grown up with. In the context of global jihad, this is a dangerous combination.

The article then goes on to illustrate how ISIS is using social media (and most understand, it isn't limited to radicalization). After this the article explains how governments and non-government organizations like Anonymous are using social media to fight ISIS, with short but sufficient descriptions of doxxing, DDoS, sabotage, content alternating, twitter account hunting, etc.

Together, this loose coalition seeks to rob ISIS of one of its most powerful weapons: kicking it out of the very social-media ecosystem that helped give it life.

I have little faith that mass efforts of counter radicalization will every accomplish anything, and in many cases will backfire. However, denying, or even disrupting, ISIS's use of social media should have a telling effective when combined with effective law enforcement, intelligence, and military operations.

[AdamG]

http://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/...rter/77501800/

A Pennsylvania 19-year-old pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, used Twitter to spread its propaganda and had a backpack with ammunition that suggests he might have been plotting an attack, federal authorities said Thursday.

Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, of Harrisburg, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He had an initial court appearance and will be held pending a detention and preliminary hearing next week.

Court documents said a "go bag" or "tactical-style backpack" found in Aziz's closet during a Nov. 27 search contained a high-capacity magazine loaded with ammunition, a modified kitchen knife, a thumb drive, a tin filled with medicine and a full face mask similar to those worn by Islamic State militants. Aziz may have been "preparing to conduct or assist others in conducting an attack in the United States," according to a criminal complaint.

[AdamG]

Despite widespread media reports to the contrary, an app created for Islamic State militants to send private encrypted messages does not exist, a Daily Dot investigation found.

On Jan. 12, Defense One reported that the Islamic State allegedly built a new Android app called Alrawi for exchanging encrypted messages, based on claims from self-proclaimed online counterterrorism outfit Ghost Security Group (GSG). The claim was quickly reprinted by Newsweek, Fortune, TechCrunch, and the Times of India—the largest English-language newspaper in the world—among many others.

http://www.dailydot.com/politics/isi...messaging-app/

[davidbfpo]

From The Atlantic and the sub-title is:

And why stopping it requires that governments get out of the way

Link:http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...da-war/462702/

[davidbfpo]

From Australia's Lowy Institute a podcast and article by a journalist. Podcast:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2016/02/29/How-Islamic-State-has-duped-Western-Media.aspx?

Article:http://www.lowyinstitute.org/publica...instream-media

[davidbfpo]

An updated short article by Charlie Winter, ex-Quilliam Foundation, on the Lawfare blog:

Editor's Note: The Islamic State produces potent propaganda, inspiring tens of thousands of Muslims to travel to Syria to fight and encouraging other Muslims to launch attacks in their home countries. The propagandists also try to brainwash those unfortunate enough to be under the group’s thumb. Charlie Winter of Georgia State University explores the Islamic State’s internal propaganda mechanisms, offering an in-depth description of its media machine and the dangerous messages it churns out.

Link:https://www.lawfareblog.com/totalita...ganda-strategy