The Digital Battlefield: How Terrorist Groups Exploit Social Media To Spread Extremism – OpEd
The social media platforms have become the prime space for propagation of ideology and recruitment of terrorists in recent times, where groups have been provided with a powerful and unregulated tool to spread ideology and recruit members and carry out actions. This is alarming as terrorist organizations including those proscribed by the United Nations still use these platforms with ease. And given the continuous growth of social media platforms and their influence over people, they are becoming a preferred outlet for extremist groups to disseminate messages and actions without any thorough checks to curtail their audiences impact.
Social media has been employed very effectively by terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Qaeda; in more recent years, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well. Platform’s such as Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter), give them the ability to communicate directly with followers and those that may one day become recruits, and allow them reach and anonymity of speed that disseminate their content. Because these groups have the ability to use hashtags, encrypted messaging apps, and videos, it is so much easier for them to live outside central control behind traditional media and governmental, they are able to operate, so to speak, in a decentralized way.
In particular, extremist content has been distributed explosively across borders with little corruption from authorities or platform regulators. It opens the space for radicalization, where susceptible individuals are vulnerable to be radicalized and attacked through violence ideologies and then planned, coordinated and carried out by anybody unashamedly.
The most worrying feature of this constantly increasing tendency is that it is contrary to the UN designated organizations’ continued activities on these platforms. For example, al-Qaeda, ISIS and TTP who have been designated terrorist organizations, can still broadcast their messages freely on social media. For example, last weekend TTP tweeted about launching its Khandaq spring offensive and it announced a series of attacks against Pakistani military forces. Trade announced via social media platforms, but the attacks, over half a dozen attacks on Pakistani security forces were actually live streamed in real time.
The fact that such an alarming shift towards digital war was taking place is also indicative of what social media platforms have come to mean to how faster crimes committed by terrorist groups are spread around the globe. With the broadcasting of such acts of violence from these organizations, these groups will be able to further their agenda and recruit more members through international exposure. In addition to heightening the psychological impact of the attacks, they contribute to the pool of material to be spread more efficiently around the world.
This is an instance of terrace TTP’s Khandaq offensive illustrates the terrorism which is another side of social media. Besides Telegram, X has also become an increasingly popular spot for terrorists, as they can reach a wide audience of followers to spread violent messages and recruit. Once it posts extremist content, it can rapidly circulate across other platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. This spread of terrorist propaganda virus is problematic as the content is being spread from one user to another and keeps on spilling over without checking what is being put out there.
The lack of effective editorial checks for tackling the spread of extremist content on social media is one of main challenges. Like other social media platforms, algorithms play a significant role in how content is filtered and managed on them, but repressive algorithms fail to stop terrorist-related content from being posted on time. In making these content priorities, algorithms favor content that drives up engagement, and that can be broadly defined as sensational and emotive — and therefore extremist content to boot. In addition, many of these keyword filtering and content moderation mechanisms are not effective enough to foil the circumvention of terrorist organizations. Even if content has been flagged as extremist, it can require hours or days for it to be taken down if the network has hoisted that flag too recently for the law to contend with it. Social media platforms have failed to introduce sturdy editorial checks, which gives terrorist propaganda, and vitally, radicalization and violence a further space to flourish.
Thinking of terrorist groups as the young generation, we are witnessing them using social media to spread terror. It is distressing that groups such as TTP are able to coordinate attacks, disseminate violence and recruit new subjects for their cause on social media platforms. As we know particularly a developing country are particularly vulnerable as they don’t have the resources or regulatory measures in place to deal with the problem. So, I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the international cooperation, adjust the regulatory frameworks and the functioning of content moderating on the social media platforms.
Social media companies have to change their priorities from how they can increase the engagement of their users to keep their platform safe and secure. Detective and prevention of the spread of extremist matter before reaching large audience is to be achieved through improved algorithms, strict editorial checks, and more effective content moderation. To thwart the tide digital extremism and protect the vulnerable from the wicked influence of terrorist groups online, only coordinated global strives can save us.
