"For those who do not know how to commit jihad, they should understand that there are several ways of committing jihad… This is not the Stone Age… This is the Internet era, there is Facebook, Twitter and others."
- Umar Patek, at his Bali terrorism trial, June 7, 2012[1]
Introduction
Twitter began as an online social networking and micro blogging service in English in 2006. Since that time it has gained popularity in other languages as well, including Arabic across the Arab and Muslim world. According to recent research on Twitter users, Arabic is now the fastest-growing language on the site; the number of Arabic-language tweets is 22 times greater than it was a year ago.[2] One segment of this group is members of jihadi and terrorist organizations.
As part of their online media strategy, jihadi organizations have in recent years begun using Western websites and technologies – uploading videos to YouTube[3] and to the Internet Archive,[4] creating official Facebook pages,[5] and, lately, "tweeting" news flashes from the jihadi fronts.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California and with servers in San Antonio, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, and an ever expanding presence in Washington D.C., Twitter is increasingly being used by terrorist organizations and their media outlets, and their online followers are growing in number. These organizations include many officially recognized by the West and U.S. government as terrorist entities, such as the Taliban (alemarahweb and ABalkhi),[6] the Somali Al-Qaeda-affiliated group Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen (HSMPress),[7] Hamas (hamasinfo) and its military wing Al-Qassam Brigades (AlqassamBrigade),[8] Hizbullah and its Al-Manar TV (almanarnews),[9] and other groups.
Twitter Terms of Service: A Person Barred From Receiving Services Under U.S. Law May Not Tweet
According to Twitter's Terms of Services, any "person barred from receiving services under the laws of the U.S." may not hold a Twitter account. Yet this has not stopped any of the world's major terrorist groups from tweeting. Twitter has failed to address the use of its website by jihadis – as has the U.S. government.
Account holders, according to Twitter's Terms of Service, may use the services only if "you [the user] can form a binding contract with Twitter and are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction."[10] Twitter notes restrictions on content and use of the services by stating, "We reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services and to terminate users or reclaim usernames... We also reserve the right to... enforce the Terms, including investigation of potential violations hereof."[11]
Twitter Violates U.S. Law by Allowing Designated Terror Groups to Tweet
U.S. law has clear and effective provisions against terrorist organizations and their online activities, naming certain groups "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (FTOs) and certain individuals "Specially Designated Terrorists" (SDTs) or "Specially Designated Global Terrorists" (SDGTs). The list of designated organizations and individuals is updated regularly, and made available to the public.[12] These designations have legal consequences. For example, Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that it is unlawful to provide a designated FTO with "material support or resources," including "any property, tangible or intangible, or services," among them "communication equipment and facilities."[13]
Title 18, Section 842 of the code of Laws of the U.S. states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to teach or demonstrate the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute by any means information pertaining to... the manufacture or use [thereof] with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence."[14]
One such activity has been that designated terror organizations have been tweeting over the past year, as Twitter has been under increasing pressure to address this problem. A December 18, 2011 Washington Post report noted that "U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about terrorist groups' stepped-up activity on social media sites (including Twitter), citing cases in which Americans have been recruited online by terrorists overseas."[15]
As far back as April 2011, Twitter was asked by The Washington Times to comment on reports about the Taliban's Twitter account and about the law prohibiting provision of services to designated terrorist groups – but refused to do so. The newspaper report quoted Senator Joseph Lieberman (D/I-CT) as saying that he believed that the Taliban's use of Twitter "would be violating the company's terms of use."[16]
Subsequently, a November 23, 2011 Los Angeles Times report stated that after several Congressmen urged Twitter to stop hosting the Taliban's Twitter feed, Twitter executives told lawmakers that the posts do not violate the website's terms of service because the Taliban is not listed by the State Department as an FTO; it agreed, however, that such a designation would make it illegal to provide "material support or resources" to the group.[17] (The Taliban was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on July 2, 2002.[18]) On this occasion, too, "Twitter officials did not respond to requests for comment."[19]
When it was discovered that Al-Shabaab, an FTO and a SDGT since 2008,[20] had opened a Twitter account and begun tweeting on December 7, 2011, questions arose regarding whether the U.S. government – or Twitter itself – would take action. A State Department spokesman said, "We are looking closely at the facts of this situation to determine what the appropriate next steps might be."[21]
According to a December 20, 2011 New York Times report, "some American officials said the government was exploring legal options to shut down the Shabaab's new Twitter account, potentially opening a debate over the line between free speech and support for terrorism... American officials said they were worried that the Shabaab might be using Twitter to reach potential recruits in the West."[22]
Again, just as Twitter refused to comment to The Washington Times and the Los Angeles Times, company spokesman Matt Graves told The New York Times on December 19, 2011: "I appreciate your offer for Twitter to provide perspective for the story, but we are declining comment on this one."[23]
Asked about the matter at a January 10, 2012 State Department function, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation Alec Ross said: "In terms of your question about Al-Shabaab, I have absolutely no sympathy for Al-Shabaab or for any terrorist organization. And so for me to think about whether they should have the right to use Twitter or not, I go to a more fundamental question, which is: Do they have the right to exist or not? So we can sit here and debate freedom of expression as it exists to terrorist – about terrorist organizations. But my question about terrorist organizations is far more fundamental. Should they exist? And my answer to that is no. They should be dismantled; they should be destroyed. And so in terms of Al-Shabaab and other institutions that are purveyors of terror, they're going to get absolutely no sympathy from me, and they certainly aren't going to see me advocate for their rights."[24]
U.S. Government Not Forcing Twitter To Close Accounts Belonging To U.S.-Designated Terrorist Groups
To date, there has been little evidence – at least in the public arena – to suggest that the U.S. government will force Twitter to follow U.S. law by closing accounts belonging to U.S.-designated terrorist groups. This issue can be expected to become even more important in the future, as an increasing number of terrorist and jihadi organizations are utilizing Twitter services.
As the U.S. grapples with how to respond, Twitter's Washington, D.C. office will be called upon to develop a clear policy. In fact, over the past two years, Twitter has built up a large presence comprising former high-ranking officials from the U.S. government and Capitol Hill, as well as telecommunications policy experts involved in many of the most important tech debates from the past decade – a presence which has not gone unnoticed by the media.
An April 1, 2012 article titled "Tech Companies New Lobbying Force in D.C." in the New York Post, that featured a large photo of Twitter cofounders Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, was devoted to tech companies such as Twitter that have recently emerged as a "lobbying" force in Washington, D.C., and discussed its efforts in major legislative debates this year. This article follows a series of reports in outlets such as The Atlantic, which on August 29, 2011 published an article titled "Get To Know Twitter's New Lobbying Powerhouse," and Politico, which on August 30, 2011 published one titled "Twitter Expands its D.C. Presence" detailing the growing D.C. influence of the social media company.
Twitter government and public relations liaison Adam Sharp previously served as director of communications and technology, and later as Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) – who is Chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.[25] He was formerly C-SPAN's executive producer of digital services, and also worked for NBC News. One of his main tasks now is to help government employees and politicians use Twitter.[26]
Twitter's head of Global Public Policy, Colin Crowell, a former top Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Capitol Hill telecommunications aide, was senior aide to Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) when Markey was chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, and helped to pass the Telecommunications Act of 1996.[27] He was Senior Advisor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, helping to shape broad policies and the Open Internet Order. He also ran a consulting firm; his clients included Google and YouTube. Now, at Twitter, he works with members of Capitol Hill, the FCC, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).[28]
Heading Twitter's International Strategy is Katie Jacobs Stanton, a former Google veteran who previously worked with the Obama administration at the White House on new media strategies. She joined Twitter from the State Department, where she worked with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and assisted the agency's use of social media in international diplomacy – including the launch of Text Haiti, a mobile donation campaign that raised $33 million for the American Red Cross' post-earthquake aid efforts in a single week.[29] In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked her as the 56th most powerful woman in the world.[30]
Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen Tweets That the U.S. Government Is Going to Issue A Subpoena for Information on its Twitter Account
In testimony to Congress in March 2012, FBI Director Robert Mueller spoke of Twitter as instrumental in the evolution and expansion of terrorist communication. He said, "Of particular note is Al-Qaeda's use of online chat rooms and websites to recruit and radicalize followers to commit acts of terrorism. And they are not hiding in the shadows of cyberspace…Terrorists are not only sharing ideas; they are soliciting information and inviting communication. Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, uses Twitter to taunt its enemies – in English – and encourage terrorist activity."[31]
A series of March 10, 2012 Al-Shabaab (@HSMPress) tweets referred to a subpoena which might shut its account down:
- "Subpoena cites Executive Order 13224 & 13536 requesting info regarding HSMPress-perhaps a motion to quash the legal process should be filed?"
- "Subpoena is said to be from the US Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control – dated 15/Feb/2012 and with ref number SOM-1309"
- "On March 7, precisely 3months after our first tweet on this platform, Twitter notifies HSM that an Administrative Subpoena has been received"
However, over three months later, it is still operating.[32]
Twitter Respecting European Laws – But Not U.S. Law
According to the Twitter Support Page, "With hundreds of millions of Tweets posted every day around the world, our goal is to respect our users' expression, while also taking into consideration applicable local laws. Many countries, including the United States, have laws that may apply to Tweets and/or Twitter account content. In our continuing effort to make our services available to users everywhere, if we receive a valid and properly scoped request from an authorized entity, it may be necessary to reactively withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time."[33]
On January 26, 2012, Twitter issued a further statement: "The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact… almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits. As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content. Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries' limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country – while keeping it available in the rest of the world."[34]
Twitter wrongly defines the ban on pro-Nazi content as motivated by "historical or cultural reasons”[35] whereas in reality it is part of the European Crime-Prevention legislation. While Twitter observes the laws of these other countries – by allowing FTOs and SDOTs to tweet – it is disregarding U.S. laws.
How Jihadis Use Twitter
In addition to the U.S. designated terrorist organizations on Twitter, an ever-growing cadre of online jihadi groups and bloggers supportive of Al-Qaeda are tweeting. A January 12, 2012 post on the Al-Qaeda-affiliated forum Al-Fidaa by member "Al-Murabit Al-Maqdisi" announced the launch of a new Twitter account called Jihad News (twitter.com/#!/slfeps) that he said was aimed at disseminating news concerning jihad groups and messages from the groups' leaders. He invited members of Al-Fidaa and of the other forums on which he posted the announcement to follow him on Twitter; an illustrated guide instructing online jihadi supporters on how to open a Twitter account to follow Jihad News was attached to the post.[36]
Al-Murabit Al-Maqdisi's post on Al-Fidaa read: "My brothers and sisters, supporters of jihad and the mujahideen everywhere. I pray to Allah, Lord of the universe, to accept our righteous actions. With the grace of Allah, a new Twitter page has been launched under the name 'Jihad News.' This page will share news of jihad and the mujahideen from everywhere in the world. It will also publish speeches by the leaders of jihad, as well as Koranic verses, sayings from the hadith, the words of scholars, and other things. It will also be possible to follow what is published on the page via mobile phone."
In mid-March 2012, when the main Al-Qaeda forums Al-Shumoukh and Al-Fida went offline, many discussions by Al-Qaeda online activists on second-tier forums focused on the importance of American social media companies such as Twitter. This underlines the increasing shift of a significant portion of jihadi communication from jihadi forums, where they are encountering increasing objections and shutdowns from ISPs, to social media, where no one interferes with or stops them.
Al-Qaeda Online Sympathizers Embrace Twitter
Following confirmation by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of the deaths of Yemeni-American AQAP leader Anwar Al-Awlaki and American jihadi Samir Khan on September 30, 2011, online jihadi activists called for flooding American websites and social networking sites, notably Twitter, with their speeches, writings, and videos.
A Shumoukh Al-Islam forum member declared in English: "Together for Islamizing [the] U.S.A. I want to see the American forums, websites, YouTube channels, and Twitter full of Sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki's lectures and videos. It will be a curse chasing the Americans and their dogs." He added in Arabic: "To the lions of uploading and [online] distribution, to the students of Anwar Al-Awlaki... 'I entrust you with supporting your brothers, the mujahideen, with this knowledge… we shall spread their actions and the truth… You are the hope of the ummah, you are the hope of jihad… Let it be a vengeance raid for our sheikh, Al-Awlaki. We want a raid of every American forum, every Facebook page, every Twitter account…'"[37]
The ever-expanding network of online activists and groups of Al-Qaeda sympathizers and media affiliates now on Twitter includes Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) Madad News Agency,[38] Jihad Al-Ansar Media,[39] Nukhbat Al-I'lam Al-Jihadi,[40] Ribat Media Center,[41] and many others creating accounts every day. One such account belongs to the Al-Faruq Media Center, which is named after 'Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the caliph under which Egypt was conquered by the Muslims.[42] @alfaroqmedia began tweeting on February 18, 2012. As of May 8, 2012, it had 43 tweets and 183 followers. The tweets focus on the jihadi and Salafi movement in Egypt, focusing on individuals such as Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri's brother Muhammad Al-Zawahiri.
Another example includes a message posted on the Ansar Al-Mujahideen Arabic Forum (AMAF) on June 5, 2012 announcing that "Asad Al-Jihad2," a prominent writer on jihadi forums, had accepted an invitation by fellow jihadis to open an account on Twitter (@AsadAljehad2). The announcement on AMAF was posted by "Abdallah bin Muhammad," another prominent writer on the forum. In it, he says that Twitter serves as a "very important" platform for delivering one's personal message, both privately and publically. It therefore enables users to overcome the "media barriers" set in place by the enemies of Islam, with an aim to stop "[those who] posses the truth" from communicating with the masses of the ummah. Furthermore, bin Muhammad says, Twitter's most significant role lies in its potential to ensure a "balanced media" by uncovering "the true opinion" of the majority of Muslims toward various issues that concern them – a fact that the "[Western] controlled media outlets have [hidden], and still attempt to hide."
Al-Qaeda's Main English Language Affiliate Tweets
Al-Qaeda's most important English language forum AMEF (Ansar Al-Mujahideen English Forum, AMEF3) is also very active on Twitter.[43] Vitally important to Al-Qaeda and its Western sympathizers and recruits, the Ansar Al-Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF), ansar1.info, is considered the primary English-language jihadi forum, disseminating the majority of Al-Qaeda's propaganda for the English-speaking West. AMEF was established in 2008 in Arabic, and later launched multiple language pages, including English. It has thousands of threads and individual messages; multiple individuals associated with the forum have been at the center of multiple terrorism cases worldwide in 2011-2012 in the U.S., Germany, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere, as well as on jihadi fronts.[44]
Since opening its Twitter account on October 27, 2011, AMEF has posted over 2,500 tweets. The majority of the tweets include links to its main website. The AMEF tweets focus on jihad news, from fronts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Kenya, Libya, Yemen, and even in the West. They include links to speeches and videos of Al-Qaeda and its leadership. The AMEF Twitter account follows and helps disseminate the ideology of Al-Qaeda and its affiliate groups, as well as of other groups supporting online jihad. These include other jihad forums such as Shumoukh Al-Islam forum, Al-Qimmah forum, and Ansar Al-Mujahideen in Arabic, as well as As-Sahab, Minbar, GIMF, Al-Fajr Media, Al-Malahim, Al-Andalus Media, Islamic Emirate Afghanistan press releases, and others.
AMEF also follows and spreads news about security affairs in the West, including at airports and other potential terrorist targets. A tweet from March 9, 2012 that linked to the AMEF website asked, "Martyrdom Operations – Permissible?" Another notable tweet, addressed to "The Individual Mujahid," linked to a thread on the AMEF website concerning a bulletin issued by the FBI-DHS, as part of the DHS Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program and advising potential terrorists on avoiding detection. The thread that the tweet linked to on the AMEF website dealt with the bulletin, which focused on recognizing suspicious behavior, point by point, and also referred to instructions for making bombs that were published in Al-Qaeda's English-language magazine Inspire.
AMEF's main Arabic forum, Ansar Al-Mujahideen Arabic Forum (AMAF) twitter account, @as_ansar, began tweeting on April 13, 2012 and within two weeks has Tweeted over 200 times and had over 800 followers. On May 7, the AMAF issued an announcement stating, "[H]aving understood the crucial role jihadi media plays in the battle between Islam and its enemies, the AMAF is using all legitimate means to support Islam. Among the steps it took in this regard, it said, was the recent opening of the AMAF's Twitter account, "as_ansar@".
As for its instructions to jihadis, the announcement asked them to follow AMAF's Twitter account and to disseminate its content via "retweeting" and the use of hashtags.
The list of Al-Qaeda's sympathizers on Twitter grows daily, as does the number of avatars of Osama bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, Anwar Al-Awlaki, the black flag of Al-Qaeda, and many other related images. One follower, "The Son of Al-Qaeda" (ibn_alqaeda), posts links to jihadi productions on multiple Western websites. Another Al-Qaeda sympathizer tweeting is Hamad Al-Otaibi (sssq61), who on November 1, 2011 tweeted an item from a jihadi site which called for readers to contribute and to make efforts in order to bring about the kidnapping of a U.S. soldier.[45]
Zachary Chesser, the 22-year old northern Virginian who was accused of trying to join Al-Shabaab; arrested in July 2010 and on February 24, 2011 was sentenced in federal court to 25 years in prison was active on Twitter. Chesser's Twitter account MujahidBlog, which is no longer active, also helped to spread English-language Al-Qaeda ideology online.
The Ansarullah English Blog, ansarullah.ws/en/ whose organization's motto, "With a Guiding Book and a Championing Sword" is a leading second-tier online Al-Qaeda affiliate that tweets. Hosted in Germany, the blog first appeared online on March 28, 2010; six months later, on October 24, 2010, it launched its Twitter account, ansaruddin1. Its avatar is the black Al-Qaeda flag, and the image on its Twitter page is a sword. To date, it has posted over 5,500 tweets, in the following categories: news about jihadi organizations, redistributing content from jihad media outlets, posting videos and sermons of jihadi religious figures, and posting news relating to the U.S. war on terror, including items related to homeland security and Western jihadists.
Somali Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen Tweets
On February 26, 2008, the U.S. government, pursuant to Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, designated Al-Shabaab a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The Department of State announcement stated that the group "poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."[46]
The State Department's 2010 Country Reports on Terrorism, released August 18, 2011, describes Al-Shabaab's activities as follows: "The group has claimed responsibility for several high profile bombings and shootings throughout Somalia targeting African Union troops and TFG officials. It has been responsible for the assassination of numerous civil society figures, government officials, and journalists. Al-Shabaab fighters or those who have claimed allegiance to the group have conducted violent attacks and targeted assassinations…."[47]
Al-Shabaab is media savvy; its leaders frequently hold press conferences with major media outlets, including Al-Jazeera, in attendance. They maintain a media company, Al-Kataib;[48] an Internet TV network with the same name;[49] and a radio station, Al-Andalus;[50] and also put out many press releases that are distributed on major jihadi Internet forums.
On December 7, 2011, Al-Shabaab entered the twitterverse; a tweet on its new official Twitter page stated "Martyrdom seeker infiltrates K4 circle in #Mogadishu. 3 #Ugandanm 7 TFG soldiers pronounced dead on the scene. 2 mercenaries injured."[51] The official Al-Shabaab Twitter page[52] is titled "HSM Press – Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen Press Office," and its avatar is the Al-Qaeda flag. The HSM Twitter account is also using a Yahoo account, [email protected], to connect with media and potential new Al-Shabaab members.
Omar Hammami, American Commander Of Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen – And A U.S. Designated Terrorist Tweets
On July 29, 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury declared U.S.-born Omar Hammami, aka Abu Mansur Al-Amriki, who is a leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliate in Somalia Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen, a Specially Designated National, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13536, which "targets for sanctions individuals and entities engaging in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia."[53] By law, "U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with... designees and any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen."[54]
Less than one year later on May 14, 2012, Hammami created his twitter account (twitter.com/#!/abumamerican). Since then, he has posted over 170 tweets, and is currently following 39 other Twitter accounts. Among those following him are many "terrorist analysts," journalists, and terrorist organizations that are active on Twitter.
Tweets by Hammami include his discussions of his writing activities and links to his Facebook page and other social media pages. Hammami is also openly and actively tweeting with people who are writing about jihad, Al-Qaeda, Somalia, and other topics, including those who are following him and his activity
Al-Qaeda East Africa (the Muslim Youth Center) Tweets
According to its blog and Twitter account, the Muslim Youth Center (MYC) is a radical Islamist group dedicated to defending the cause of Muslims inside Kenya and to supporting Islamist causes in other countries. Most notably, MYC supports the Somali jihad group Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen. On January 11, 2011, the MYC published an announcement on its blog according to which Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen had appointed MYC’s leader, Ahmad Iman ‘Ali, emir of Kenya.[55]
On February 10, 2012, it also announced on its blog that it had become part of “Al-Qaeda East Africa.” The MYC Press Office is active on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/MYC_Press, having launched its account on December 13, 2011. To date it has tweeted 1,800 times and has 760 followers. On June 12, a picture of its leader Ahmad Iman ‘Ali was tweeted with the title “Da Boss!” ‘Ali is wanted by Kenyan authorities and has been the subject of United Nations reports on Al-Qaeda in Africa.[56]
The Taliban Tweets From Afghanistan and Pakistan
The first terrorist organization to make headlines for embracing Twitter was the Taliban. On February 17, 2011, Taliban commander Abdul Satar Maiwandi, who is in charge of the Taliban's official web presence, including the website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, gave a detailed interview to the Taliban's Arabic-language magazine Al-Somood.[57] In the interview, he boasted of defeating the U.S. in the media field and discussed the Taliban's online media campaign, including its presence on Twitter,[58] which serve the Taliban's propaganda efforts against the U.S. and coalition forces.
The Taliban maintain two official Twitter accounts. The first, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Twitter account, alemarahweb, was created on December 19, 2010, and posted over 5,000 "tweets," many of them announcements of attacks on U.S. and coalition forces. The account has 7,200 followers. Among the tweets posted to this account were those dated September 13, 2011, when Taliban insurgents attacked two symbols of the U.S. diplomatic and military presence in Kabul – the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters. They included minute-by-minute updates on the attack, detailing the killing of U.S. soldiers.
The other Taliban Twitter account, ABalkhi, was created on May 12, 2011; it has posted over 1,500 tweets and has 5,000 followers. It describes itself as "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, News, Interviews, Analysis, Statements" and links to the official Taliban website – alemara1.com/english. One notable series of tweets announced the August 6, 2011 downing of a U.S. helicopter by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the deadliest single incident for the U.S. forces in this war.
More recently, on March 13, 2012 the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) started tweeting the Pakistani Taliban's message of jihad on Twitter. In its first tweet, it warned that the jihad launched by the TTP's slain Emir Baitullah Mehsud would continue against the Pakistan Army due to the latter's alliance with the U.S. The first tweet in English read, "we will continue our jihad that was declared by our founder Amir Baitullah Mehsud against [the] Pak Army due to the country's alliance with US."
It should be noted that when the Taliban's websites[59] are down – which could happen for multiple reasons, including a cyber attack by coalition forces – the Taliban are still able to maintain their online presence via Twitter. The same goes for the main jihadi forums; when they are down, their Twitter affiliates continue to send out their messages.
Pakistani Terrorist Organizations Tweet
Many other Pakistani terrorist organizations are active on Twitter; one of these is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)[60] – the military arm of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), which has been involved in recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan, and in the past collaborated with other terrorist organizations including Al-Qaeda. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and its members operate several accounts on Twitter, the most prominent being Jhangvi and JhangviNews. Other Twitter accounts linked to the militant network are SunnikiLLing and KKSKEWS. In January 2003, the U.S. State Department designated Lashkar-e-Jhangvi a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The LeJ's main Twitter account, Jhangvi, became active sometime in late September 2011, posting its first tweets on September 28, many of them in Roman Urdu. It directs its readers to the main website of Jhangvi Media Movement, or jmmpak.org. Like all Lashkar-e-Jhangvi publications, its hate campaign is directed against Shi'ites, and many tweets are against Jews and Christians or express intent to conduct armed activity against those who do not follow its ideology.[61]
Lebanon's Hizbullah and Al-Manar TV Tweet
The Lebanese-based Hizbullah terrorist organization, which has killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization except for Al-Qaeda, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 11, 2005. The group was previously designated an FTO in 1999, but the designation was rescinded in 2001 after it denounced the 9/11 attacks. Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV was designated an FTO in December 2004, and in 2006 Al-Manar was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity; at the time, the U.S. State Department declared that it was "owned or controlled by the Iran-funded Hizbullah terrorist network."
On March 23, 2006, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that pursuant to Executive Order 13224, Al-Manar was designated a global terrorist entity. The announcement cited earlier U.S. laws against Al-Manar, which it called "the media arm of Hizbullah." In response to the U.S. designation, Al-Manar vowed to continue broadcasting even though its assets were now frozen by the U.S. government.[62] A spokesman insisted that there was "nothing new" and added, "It doesn't change anything, and we will continue our work and will remain broadcasting everywhere in the world, including the U.S."[63] One way Hizbullah has gotten around such restrictions is by using Twitter.
Ever since Al-Manar began broadcasting via satellite in 2000, it has been at the center of controversy throughout the West. In the U.S., Canada, France, Australia, Spain, and the Netherlands, the channel has been banned in various capacities. The French government banned Al-Manar in December 2004 for repeatedly violating the country's anti-hate laws. The U.S. and Canada followed just days afterward. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We don't see why... a terrorist organization should be allowed to spread its hatred and incitement…."[64]
On November 16, 2011, Hizbullah began tweeting (almanarnews). It has since posted over 35,000 tweets and has over 11,000 followers. The tweets are in Arabic, French, and English. They use Twitter tools such as "AddThis," which bills itself as "the world's largest sharing and social insights platform" allowing the user to "integrate sharing tools into your site, spread your content, and drive social traffic. In-depth analytics provide insight into your audience and their activity."[65]
For the most part, Al-Manar tweets included statements by Hizbullah officials; speeches by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; and news about the Iranian government and military leaders. It also tweeted news items regarding CIA-reported spying efforts on Hizbullah in Lebanon. Most of the tweets link back to Al-Manar's website.
Palestinian Terror Organizations, Including Hamas, Its Armed Wing, and Its TV Network, Tweet
Hamas was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in April 1993. The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice stated in 2004 that Hamas threatened the United States through covert cells on U.S. soil.[66] In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2005, FBI director Robert Mueller stated that his organization "believed that the main interest of Hamas in the U.S. remained the raising of funds to support their regional goals…. Although it would be a major strategic shift for Hamas, its U.S. network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the U.S."[67]
Since Hamas's first tweet on November 21, 2009, it has posted a total of over 12,000 tweets in its various accounts, and has gained over 23,000 followers. The accounts include those of Hamas Info – the main organization's office (hamasinfo), Hamas' military arm Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades (AlqassamBrigade), Hamas' media wing Al-Aqsa TV (AqsaTVChannel), and Hamas political bureau deputy chairman Moussa Abu Marzouq (mosa_abumarzook).[68]
Hamas Info began tweeting on November 18, 2010. As of March 29, 2012 Hamas Info had posted over 1,100 tweets and gained over 8,000 followers. The Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, was founded in 1992, with the primary objective of building a cohesive military organization to support the goals of Hamas. In March 2002, the United States designated the Al-Qassam Brigades a foreign terrorist organization. The Al-Qassam Brigades began tweeting on November 21, 2009. As of March 29, 2012 it had posted over 3,100 tweets and gained over 2,300 followers.
The Al-Qassam Brigades' tweets include speeches and communiqués by the Hamas political and military leadership, excerpts from the Koran to incite and wage jihad and martyrdom attacks, and links to YouTube videos inciting to violence, and even calls for "a new Holocaust." Also tweeted are specific "military statistics" including the number of jihadist and martyrdom operations by Hamas, such as "the total number of the Zionists who were killed and injured by our hands reached to (7767)" and the number of "shelled targets by Al-Qassam Brigades of Zionists with homemade projectiles"; how many Al-Qassam martyrs and how many "Zionist soldiers" it killed, as well as calls for abducting Israelis, announcements of missiles and mortars fired at Israel, claims of responsibility for terror attacks, and more.
On January 7, 2006, Hamas launched its TV channel, Al-Aqsa TV. On March 18, 2010, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Al-Aqsa TV and designated it a terrorism-financing organization. The actions taken by the U.S. Treasury Department freezes all assets held by Al-Aqsa TV under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with them. The Treasury Department stated that Al-Aqsa TV is financed and controlled by Hamas, serving as a primary Hamas media outlet that airs programs "designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood."[69]
Following the U.S. Treasury Department's actions, France moved to ban the broadcasting of Al-Aqsa TV in France.[70] Al-Aqsa TV Channel began tweeting on September 14, 2011. As of March 29, 2012 it had posted over 1,300 tweets and gained over 7,900 followers.
The Caucasus' Kavkaz Center Tweets
Another region where Twitter has become popular is the Caucasus, which tweets in Russian. Tweeters there include the jihadi news agency Kavkaz Center. Established in 1999, Kavkaz Center states that it is an online Chechen news agency reporting on events in the Caucasus, Russia, and the Islamic world, in English, Arabic, Ukrainian, Russian, and Turkish. Banned in Russia, the website posts content encouraging and glorifying violent jihad in the Caucasus and elsewhere. Although it purports to be an independent news agency, Kavkaz Center is closely affiliated with the Caucasus Emirate (CE), a jihad organization operating in Russia's Caucasian republics, and has posted videos featuring messages from and interviews with its leaders. The website has also featured exclusive information on developments in the CE, which could only have been obtained through close ties with CE operatives.[71] In May 2011, the CE was designated a Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department under Presidential Executive Order 13224;[72] a year previously, its leader Dokku Umarov was designated a wanted foreign terrorist.[73]
On January 27, 2012, Kavkaz Center posted on its website an announcement about efforts by the KGB to have "video clips which are disliked by Russia" removed from "YouTube, Dailymotion, and others," by "filing abuse complaints." It appealed to its readers to "open en masse new accounts... with these video services and to upload video clips placed on the KC [Kavkaz Center], on their own channels as well as on other sites, to distribute the truth about the Jihad in the Caucasus." It also urged them to "create accounts with Twitter…."[74]
Kavkaz Center's Twitter account (kavkazcenter), launched July 10, 2011, links to their official website, kavkazcenter.com. As of March 29, 2012, it had posted over 6,100 tweets (including retweets from the CE, Somali Al-Qaeda affiliated group Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, and other groups) and gained over 2,100 followers. Many of the tweets on this account mock Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime, while others follow the movements of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Tweets also focus on the jihadi front against Russia, and on international jihad fronts: Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, the Cacausus, Chechnya, Kazakhstan, Dagestan, and Georgia.
A second account (kavkaz_news) links to kavkaznews.blogspot.com, a non-official blog offering "news, facts and analysis on the Caucasus Emirate." Kavkaznews.blogspot.com features multiple sections, including jihad, weapons and equipment, and explosive materials, with detailed bomb-making instructions,[75] and contains many videos depicting operations of jihad groups and lectures of extremist scholars. In addition to CE announcements, it carries statements and publications from other jihad groups, such as the Taliban. Its Twitter account was launched on June 21, 2011; as of March 29, 2012 it had posted 700 tweets and gained 250 followers. This account is updated every few days.
British Jihadi Anjem Choudary Tweets
On March 19, 2011, British jihadi Anjem Choudary, spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization, co-founder of Al-Muhajiroun, and spiritual advisor to the UK Islamist group Muslims Against Crusades (MAC),[76] launched a Twitter account and began tweeting. MAC made headlines on October 28, 2011 for threatening a British MP who subsequently called for their activities to be closely monitored by law enforcement, which led to MAC being banned from the United Kingdom.[77] Also on February 5, 2012, six of Choudary's students were arrested for plotting to attack the London Stock Exchange, House of Parliament and U.S. Embassy.
In addition to tweeting his views to his followers, Choudary uses Twitter for disseminating and linking to his videos on YouTube, for announcing collaboration with other jihadi groups, and for calling on his followers in the U.K. and U.S. to launch protests. Choudary's tweets include calls for a return to the Caliphate; for shari'a law to replace the U.S. Constitution; for Islam to conquer the White House and U.K.; for Islam to take over the world; for Libyans to declare jihad and annex other countries; and for Allah to destroy the enemies of Islam, as well as praise for Anwar Al-Awlaki and Osama bin Laden and much more.
In one notable tweet, dated November 4, 2011, Choudary warns those who "support" Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical political weekly – which published an attack on radical Islam, with Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "guest editor" and as a result had its offices firebombed and its website cyber-attacked – to "take lessons from Theo Van Gogh," the Dutch film director assassinated by Mohammed Bouyeri in November 2004 for his film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam.
Terror Organizations Easily Identified By HASHTAG "#Jihad" In Their Tweets
As terrorist organizations increasingly embrace Twitter, Twitter and the U.S. government continue to refrain from acting to impede their efforts. This in turn is only part of the greater failure to act against terrorist use of online social media on the part of Western governments, the business community, and especially social media companies themselves – who have made billions from what is now a valuable tool and weapon for groups and individuals dedicated to killing Americans and Westerners and attacking the U.S. and the West.
Twitter is capable of blocking certain accounts from tweeting content in certain countries that violates the laws of those countries – for example, Nazi content in Germany. But it refuses to stop terrorists worldwide who have come to rely on its services.
Many of the terror organizations and individuals mentioned in this report use HASHTAG "#Jihad" in their tweets, and anyone, including Twitter, wanting to identify them need only type the phrase into the Twitter search engine.
The lack of action to stop terrorist activity of social media platforms has not gone unnoticed by terrorist organizations and online jihadis. It is not uncommon for chatter on the main jihadi forums to focus both on the importance of online jihad and on mocking the absence of efforts to put an end to jihadis' tremendous freedom online.
In an April 15, 2012 interview with the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, the key spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government), explained that the Taliban's media strategy is to win the hearts and minds of visitors to the Taliban websites, seeking to lure them into the jihadist battlefield through such Internet tools as "Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter." He added, "The media is a basic and important part of the ongoing war between us and the occupation enemy. [Winning] the media war means, perhaps, winning more than half of the war. We communicate with our people in Afghanistan and beyond, explain our cause, and make our voice heard among all Muslims and in the world in general."
Twitter's rules and regulations guiding the actions of its millions of users cover a wide range of topics, from pornography, trademark infringement, and privacy down to the type of media users can upload to the type of avatars and background images they can use. But conspicuous in its absence is any clear regulation of the dissemination of terrorist content. While Twitter does prohibit users from "publish[ing] or post[ing] direct, specific threats of violence against others," and adds that no one can "use our [service] for any unlawful purposes or in furtherance of illegal activities," it does not clearly ban the dissemination of content that has been created by organizations defined by the U.S. government as terrorist or by those who support them.
Even Twitter's "Guidelines for Law Enforcement," on its "About Us" page, intended for officers of the law seeking information on specific Twitter users, state that private information – a user's bio, URL, or a user's location – can be obtained by law enforcement only through subpoena or court order, or with a U.S. search warrant. It further states that it is Twitter policy to notify users of requests for such information about them prior to fulfilling them, unless doing so is specifically prohibited by that court order.
It is this procedure that was apparently followed by the U.S. government prior to Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen's March 10, 2012 mocking tweets stating that its Twitter account had been subpoenaed. And yet, Al-Shabaab continues to tweet freely to this day.
*Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Endnotes:
[2] According to a report by the French social media research firm Semiocast conducted last month. See Washington Post, December 18, 2011.
[3] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis, "Part I – Deleting Online Jihad and the Case of Anwar Al-Awlaki: Nearly Three Million Viewings of Al-Awlaki's YouTube Videos – Included Would-Be Christmas Airplane Bomber, Fort Hood Shooter, 7/7 London Bomber, and Would-Be Fort Dix Bombers," December 30, 2009, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3871.htm
[8] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 781, "Hamas Tweets For Jihad and Martyrdom, For Expelling and Killing Jews, and For Conquering Jerusalem – Another U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Served By Using Twitter," December 29, 2011, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5960.htm
[15] Washington Post, December 18, 2011
[16] The Washington Times, April 28, 2011
[17] The Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2011.
[19] The Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2011
[21] The New York Times, December 20, 2011
[22] The New York Times, December 20, 2011
[23] The New York Times, December 20, 2011
[32] "Executive Order 13224 & 13536" in the Al-Shabaab tweets refers to the U.S. government's citation of those orders when issuing a subpoena to request information on Al-Shabaab's Twitter account. "EO 13224" is the Executive Order signed by former President Bush that provides a way of disrupting the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organizations by authorizing the government to designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism. "EO 13536" is the Order signed by President Obama that blocks property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in Somalia.
[42] MEMRI Special Dispatch 4422, January 13, 2012
[43] MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 787, "Now Tweeting: Ansar Al-Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF) – The Main Al-Qaeda English-Language Forum – Spreading Online Jihad, Inciting and Instructing Activists To Carry Out Terrorist Acts, Obstructing Counter-Terrorism Measures in the West," January 20, 2012 http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6008.htm
[44] For example, an AMEF tweet on December 30, 2011 referred to a "Martyred member of Ansar Al-Mujahideen network (May Allah accept him)"
[46] U.S. State Dept, February 26, 2008, http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/des/102448.htm: "In the Matter of the Designation of al-Shabaab... as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as Amended. Acting under the authority of and in accordance with Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001... I hereby determine that the organization known as al-Shabaab... has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. Consistent with the determination in Section 10 of Executive Order 13224 that 'prior notice to persons determined to be subject to the Order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States would render ineffectual the blocking and other measures authorized in the Order because of the ability to transfer funds instantaneously,' I determine that no prior notice needs to be provided to any person subject to this determination who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, because to do so would render ineffectual the measures authorized in the Order."
[60] MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 816, "Using Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Other Internet Tools, Pakistani Terrorist Group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Incites Violence Against Shi’ite Muslims and Engenders Antisemitism," March 21, 2012 http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6208.htm
[62] Daily Star (Lebanon), March 25, 2006
[68] It should be noted that other Palestinian groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations use Twitter as well, including the PFLP (PFLPgaza), which was designated an FTO in 1997.
[76] For more on Muslims Against Crusades, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4176, "U.K. Islamist Group 'Muslims Against Crusades' Asks, 'Is Assassination Of Obama Legal?'" October 4, 2011, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5691.htm; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4174, "'Muslims Against Crusades' Hold Memorial Prayers for Anwar Al-Awlaki in London - Led by Anjem Choudhary," October 02, 2011, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5688.htm, and more at MEMRI.org.
[77] British MP Mike Freer called for the Home Office to continue to "monitor this group" and said that if necessary the "full force of the law should come down on them," following an October 28, 2011, incident in which the group urged supporters on Facebook and on its website to threaten him during a constituency meeting at North Finchley Mosque in London. Freer was targeted for the role he had played in the campaign against Israeli Islamist movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah's visit to the UK earlier this year. The message on the Muslims Against Crusades website referred to last year's stabbing of Labour MP Stephen Timms as he was holding a similar meeting, and warned that that this attack should serve as a "piercing reminder" to politicians that "their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area." The Press Association, UK, October 31, 2011
