Defense Analysis

                                                          ISIS and Propaganda in Social Media
                                                                  By David Raja Marpaung

Gabriel Weimann in his study in 2012 shows, 90 percent of Al Qaeda and ISIS communications process occurs through social media. They use Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube to attract Muslim sympathies, recruit new members, and raise funds. Social media is chosen because it allows broad and direct interaction with unfiltered audiences and sensors as occurs in mainstream media. Social media also forms ideological crowds that can communicate intensively to facilitate the indoctrination of terrorism cells.

Moreover, social media is also a stage of terror (theater of terror). The video of the beheading of the hostages is displayed vulgarly throughout the world without anyone being able to withstand immediately. Terrorist groups are very free to add any appeal in the video. They know no matter how sadistic and unspeakable, the videos of the beheading are hunted by netizens who secretly love violence and many cited the mass media that utilize the fondness.

The importance of social media for terrorist groups is also noted by Brian Jenkins (2014). Facebook, Twitter, Youtube really meets the needs of Al Qaeda as an international terrorist network that moves within its limitations. Living in hiding and constantly hunted for intelligence operations, Al Qaeda needs an easy, inexpensive, and effective means of communication to reach its constituencies around the world. These conditions are met by social media.

In hiding, Al Qaeda can still communicate with the outside world, even trying to shake a lot of parties through violent propaganda.Social media even altered the Al Qaeda terror strategy. Direct violence against enemy targets is no longer a single priority. Using social media as a means of propaganda is equally important, perhaps even more important than direct violence. Spreading ideological beliefs, stimulating endless terror circuits, and lure countries to take extra-judicial steps that negatively impact the image of the democratic order become as important as direct violence. Building widespread awareness of jihad is also as important as acts of terror. In this context, regardless of their level of success, social media becomes the main epicenter of the terror movement. Jenkins noted, 90 percent of Al Qaeda's activities are centered on social media.

Al Qaeda and ISIS officials are aware that making social media the main fighting arena is really risky. They are easily targeted for intelligence surveillance and military operations. However, they have no other choice and calculate a profit greater than the loss. Degrading public confidence in the country's ability to safeguard and inspire terrorist networks elsewhere to commit terror is deemed feasible even though the risk is that their safety is always threatened by security operations in some countries.
The question then, how effective social media as a means of propaganda terrorist groups? This is a topic that is quite controversial and invites dissent from the experts, as differences of opinion also occur about the effectiveness of government resolute actions in closing the radical accounts. Once a social media account closes, another account will appear quickly. In this case the government is like playing hide and seek with radical groups. Another problem, if accounts are closed, how do intelligence agencies monitor the movements of terrorist or radical groups? The transparency of terrorist groups in cyberspace is beneficial in this regard.

Social media like the no man's jungle. A gigantic public space that has not yet institutionalized, but has been exploited so far in many ways. Still unclear how the rules of the game and who to enforce. It is not clear how law and ethics are for all those who play on social media. This vagueness also occurs in terms of corporate social media responsibilities. Do Facebook, Twitter and Youtube need not be responsible for the real use of social media as a means of propaganda terrorism?By reason of not wanting to harm the principle of freedom of opinion of internet users, social media companies initially tend to refrain from reactively closing down radical accounts or terrorists. However, to what extent is the relevance of the argument of freedom of expression when, at the same time, terrorism has deprived the lives of so many people and the glorification continues in social media?