Saturday, September 6, 2014

Recruiting for terror on social media: The devil is in the details

Several years ago it was reported on a well known religion news blog, that religious attacks have been fostered by Muslim extremists to attack Christians.  Muslims, on the other hand, have complained that social media sites like Facebook are being used to incite hatred and bigotry against them.  How are social media sites in 2014 handling the strident voices that can sometimes reach a high pitch during times of serious conflict?

The report in 2010 about Christians maintained that some of the extremists have called Christian converts "hyena evangelists" or "wolves in lamb's skins" who are "trying to shake the faith of Muslims"  The words were in Arabic and match some of Morocco's laws against proselytizing in a fashion that "shakes the faith of Muslims"

Names and addresses were said to be used on the site.

In the meantime, the report declares the Moroccan government had deported more than 100 foreign Christians for proselytizing, as described on Facebook.


The problems of the world often take to the "streets" of the Internet as Muslims and Christians use social media to explain their positions, discuss events and sometimes attack or verbally abuse one another.  And often the devil is in the details, in that the details that support the claims may be false or misleading.

In 2011 Yahoo News reported how extremists were taking to Facebook to obtain recruits. And recent news tells us they are.

ISIS, according to On the Media, is said by individuals such as J.M. Berger, editor of Intelwire, to be more effective in using online social groups to network with others and to recruit disaffected individuals to join them.  Intelwire is a publication devoted to discussing terrorism in its various manifestations.

And while the fact extremists are on social media is not news, as Berger maintains, how they recruit and the more subtle ways they find to do so is of critical importance to those innocents easily persuaded by their peers and others.

Intelwire's comprehensive articles and resources are of benefit for those who write about terrorism or seek to determine what to do if they are approached, subtly or directly, by individuals seeking to be recruited for an extremist organization of any kind.

While religious publications, Fox News and their compatriots, express concerns about how Christians are being attacked on social media, the same occurs from other groups as well.  Having knowledge of how this occurs and how to avoid being duped by either the right or left can be helpful with the vast reaches of the Internet able to hoodwink even those who see themselves too sophisticated to be fooled.  There are tools to help understand, resources for the media and anyone to review in the event they believe an individual or group is trying to foment trouble and getting others involved.




















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