September 9, 2014
ISIS Calls Violent Jihad/Attacks On Specific American Targets – Including Twitter Management And Its Employees
Rachel Levy, writing September 8, 2014 on the website, “V[]CATIV, notes that an “ISIS-related Twitter account has issued the group’s first direct call for attacks on specific American targets; but, it’s not going after political, or national icons.” Instead, Ms. Levy writes, “the group calls for retribution against,” the social media giant Twitter; and encourages the assassination of Twitters leadership and employees. In a series of tweets, ISIS encourages “lone wolves in the U.S. and Europe, to make Twitter employees the focus of their attacks.”
Ms. Levy writes that “Twitter has been engaged in a prolonged game of whack-a-mole with ISIS, closing its accounts; and, those of similar organizations as they come to prominence, in an attempt to stifle their extremist propaganda and exhortations to violence. ISIS and other groups have consistently thwarted these efforts,” she writes, “and now, they’re going a step further, urging “lone wolf” actors to attack Twitter employees.”
ISIS Calls For Deadly Jihad Against Twitter Management And Its Employees
In a chilling series of ISIS tweets — translated into English — the militant group outlines: “The Concept of Lone Wolf Attacks: The time has arrived to respond to Twitter’s management,” ISIS says, “by directly attacking their [Twitter's] employees; and, physically assassinating them!!! Those who will carry this out are the sleeper cells of death, Twitter management should know that if they do not stop their campaign in the virtual world, we will bring the war to them…in the real world, on the ground. Every Twitter employee in San Francisco in the United States, should bear in mind; and, watch over himself, because on his doorstep there might be a lone wolf assassin…waiting. Attacking Twitter employees is on the agenda of the mujahedeen; and, lone wolves across Europe.”
Ms. Levy writes that “the Twitter handle in question, @dawalmoon, purportedly represents al Nusra al Maqdisia (The Supporters of Jerusalem) — a Jerusalem-based group that pledged loyalty to ISIS in February; and, claimed to have participated in the [recent] Gaza war on its behalf. It is not possible [at this time] to independently verify whether or not this account is a reflection of ISIS policy; but,” Ms. Levy notes, “the group and its accounts are well-known and frequently referenced in online ISIS forums. Twitter suspended the @dawalmoon account around 2pm Eastern time on Monday, after the threats to the Twitter staff were posted.”
“The account,” Ms. Levy adds, “for the most part, published official ISIS materials, as well as news and updates on the groups’ activities in Iraq, and Syria, including images from field operations. Twitter had suspended it several times; and, it had reopened with slight amendments to the user name. The latest iteration had nearly 3,000 followers before it was suspended. An analysis of the account revealed that over 11 percent of its interactions over the past 30 days, have been with American-based accounts. A handful of those followers claimed to be in the United States. Individual users were also identified in Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany.”
Ms. Levy states that “Twitter has been working furiously to shut down accounts that ISIS opened to use as free, instantaneous communications. The group’s propaganda has been extremely effective in in terms of making its media and, messages fit in with journalistic norms. Having to consistently fight with Twitter’s internal police is an increasing source of frustration for ISIS it seems,” she wrote.
“ISIS is constantly ducking [evading] Twitter’s efforts to shut it out of the platform; and, that running online battle has become a hot topic in the ISIS forums [that] Vocativ monitors,” Ms. Levy noted. “The group [ISIS] constantly advises its followers on how to avoid account suspensions, and what to do if the [their] accounts are closed down. The techniques are simple, but effective; opening new accounts by subtly changing names, usernames, passwords, and pictures of suspended accounts — using numerals to replace letters; and, changing one character to create a similar user name.”
“These tactics are far from new,” or novel, Ms. Levy observed. “When Somali militants al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the Nairobi mall shooting via Twitter, their official account was knocked off Twitter; but, they have continually re-emerged under different account names. The ISIS tactics on the same platform have become far more combative. In recent days, the group began circulating a series of hastags, telling its followers to support the group’s social media presence. ISIS also recently called on its followers to attack Western and American Twitter accounts by spamming them.”
This latest threat, if verified as genuine, “would mark a stark escalation,” in the ISIS threat here in America. Thus far, ISIS has “studiously avoided calling for attacks in America and Israel,” Ms. Levy contends, preferring instead, “to restrict its campaign to territories within Syria and Iraq; and, comes at a time when fears are at a fever pitch over the possibility of ISIS attacks in Europe and/or, the United States.”
Twitter, Other Social Media Giants Need To Take ISIS Threat Seriously
Several media outlets, most notably CNN, have downplayed the ISIS threat to the American homeland, calling the threat overblown and mostly bluster. Woe to those who underestimate this threat. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel recently publicly stated that at least 100 Americans and well over 1,000 Europeans have joined the Islamic State in their quest to establish an Islamic caliphate in the heart of the Middle East. Secretary Hagel added that “there may be more, we don’t know.” Some U.S. Intelligence officials have said that as many as 300 Americans have joined forces with the Islamic State.
As has been well documented, these Western jihadists pose a clear and present danger to the United States and Europe, as their passports give them the freedom and wherewithal to sneak back into the U.S. and carry out their deadly attacks here at home. With the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack quickly approaching, Twitter security personnel and the company’s employees should stay especially vigilant.
Difficulty In Keeping Track Of Returning American Jihadists
As a former intelligence professional and now licensed private investigator, I can say with certainly that surveillance is time and labor intensive, expensive, and not as easy to do as one might think. Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center recently told NBC News that, “it is difficult for authorities to track down potential radicals; and, that officials should be concerned with the long-term threat the budding jihadists pose to the United States. From a counterterrorism perspective, nothing is more important — and often more difficult — than identifying U.S. citizens who fight and train in Syria,” Leiter said.
Much Like The Pentagon And The World Trade Center Were Top Targets For Islamic Militants To Strike — U.S. Social Media Giants Might Be Next
In the 13 years since the 9/11 attacks, the growth of social media has been an especially American phenomena. And, it would not be surprising if Twitter, FaceBook, etc. have become the new, and powerful symbols that the jihadists may want to hurt — since such an attack would certainly garner worldwide attention.
As the 9/11 anniversary quickly approaches, Twitter should remain on high alert. Over the longer term, returning American jihadists represent a clear and present danger. Let’s hope POTUS Obama does something that would prevent these individuals from returning here. At a minimum, these individual’s should have their passports and citizenship revoked. V/R, RCP
No comments:
Post a Comment