The Darker Side of Facebook: Online Jihad
Recently, The Social Network garnered the Boston, New York, and Los Angeles film critics awards, the latest in a string of accolades. The Social Network dramatizes the foundation of Facebook, the $50 billion social networking site that now claims to host more than 500 million members worldwide. No doubt about it — Facebook is a monster, and as is the way with monsters, it may have grown beyond its creator’s intentions, or ability to control.
Twice in as many weeks, Facebook has played a central role in the recruitment and apprehension of would-be domestic jihadists. It has become increasingly clear that this social network is now a tool readily employed by jihadists and their supporters around the globe.
When Antonio Martinez (aka Muhammad Hussain) was arrested in Baltimore for plotting to blow up an Army recruiting center, it was soon revealed that Martinez had posted his aims on Facebook, trying even to recruit other Muslim Facebook “friends” into roles as accomplices (roles they declined to play). Alerted to his Facebook posts by unnamed sources, undercover FBI agents supplied Martinez with dummy explosives — and watched as he attempted to detonate them.
Days later, Awais Younis was taken into custody in Alexandria, Virginia, following his threats to blow up D.C.-area targets including Metro trains and sewers in heavily populated areas of Georgetown. As in the Martinez case, Younis was reported to law enforcement in the wake of his Facebook posts; unlike Martinez, Younis has only been charged with making threatening communications.
These two cases are not coincidental. According to a recently released DHS report marked “sensitive,” intended for “Law Enforcement, DOD, or U.S. Intelligence Agencies” only:
jihad supporters and mujahideen are increasingly using Facebook, one of the largest, most popular and diverse social networking sites, both in the United States and globally, to propagate operational information, including IED recipes primarily in Arabic, but in English, Indonesian, Urdu and other languages as well. While some tactical information is available on Facebook, the majority of extremist use of Facebook focuses on disseminating ideological information and exploiting the site as an alternative media outlet for terrorist propaganda. However, to a lesser degree, the site is used as a gateway to radical forums and jihadi sites with explicit radical agendas (and easily downloadable operational information) and as a platform to promulgate some tactical and operational information.
How prevalent is this problem? Facebook’s search function readily reveals the breadth and depth of the jihadist infestation of the social network.
Using basic keywords translated with Google into Arabic, Persian (Farsi), and Urdu, one quickly racks up examples. The Arabic word jihad (الجهاد) reveals numerous profiles and groups supporting the violent dissemination of Islam worldwide — such as this one, with 75 members; this one, with 296 members; this one, with 85 members; this one, with 98 members; this one, with 298 members; and this one, in support of the al-Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, with 1,700 members.
So, what’s to complain about? The groups who use this media can be easily tracked and monitored, as the examples cited in this story indicate. Complaining about bad people using Facebook is like complaining that they use telephones, printing presses, video cameras and other communication and information processing devices. Technology is fungible. Get used to it.
http://www.facebook.com/DrawMohammed
yeah baby
I always go by the maxim-hit the enemy where it hurts, and even harder than they hit you.
So, in effect, it is not as if anti-jihadists are without a hand to play. The question is, are westerners willing to fight back, online and otherwise?
The fact that drawing cartoons of their pedophile leader causes such angst and rage among Muslims should give food for thought how to smoke them out. Rather, than allow them to control events through their threats of violence, perhaps it is time to become madder than dogs western-style. Considering the fact that most westerners are scared sh-t of provoking their ire, is it ANY wonder that the Islamic bully proceeds at break neck speed against us?
Besieged people NEVER win, only winners do.
right on ! Baby!…wait, just one more…there finished, My latest work on my Mohamed series. And more to come. I really am not a malicious person, (extra nice to store personnel during the holidays) but I’m enjoying this.
Fight back when you can how you can. Because I am no a liberal weenie who thinks if you don’t pet the snake he will leave you alone. We left him alone , in spite of what he says. I have spoken to these nut jobs on line and It is like standing on shifting sand. There is no logic. But they will kill us if they can.
Set your privacy settings to the highest if you do go on face book, I am unsearchable. keep you friend very small.
As one who follows jihadi sites daily, I’m only happy to have the opportunity to glean their thoughts.
A very good example:
The Dutch Muslims have launched a Sharia4Holland group, according to the Dutch newspaper Trouw (Shariah4Holland wil vechten voor de wetgeving van Allah). The Muslims are calling for all Dutch Muslims to fight for the establishment of the Islamic State of Netherlands with a strict sharia law – Allah’s law.
The Dutch security service sees no problem with this new Muslim group. The Sharia4Holland has both a website and Facebook page (with 150 friends) in addition to YouTube.
I am not aware that either the KKK or the Nazi Party have a FB page. That seems clearly forbidden. FB apparently has, however, a reluctance to crack down on the racist activities of dark skinned people. This should not be especially surprising. FB’s top people attended schools that popularize the notion that only white people can be racists.
‘dark-skinned’ people – Most Arabs are White Skinned. They’re all from the same nomadic tribes that killed Mr. Christ (Jesus of Nazareth) when Judaism held sway. Dark-skinned people are either from African nations or from South-asia – and that too from down-south.
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Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Malays, Singaporeans, Thai people – and many other Asian groups are either Yellow-skinned or fairly brown – a skin-tone that sends White folks running to the beach or tanning centers.
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So, your comment about ‘Dark-skinned’ is totally uncalled for & disgusting.
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Anyway – wish you a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays,
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A dark-skinned guy,
MN
Look, “dark skinned guy” Even Tom Hanks said it is about race. Tom HANKS said we are fighting in the middle east because the people there are dark skinned and POTUS didn’t correct him, only nodded.(although I’m with you, I always thought they were white) But what do I know.
And by the way, touchy touchy touchy.
MN, dark-skinned guy,
See what a hypocrite you are? “Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Malays, Singaporeans, Thai” are yellow skinned? Or fairly brown? In your mind, that’s an accurate statement? And who, pray tell, are “Singaporeans” in ethnic terms?
And yes, Arabs are “dark-skinned.” Not the same as black people, but “dark- skinned.”
It’s a question of perspective, MN. To us honkeys, over here on the melanin-deficient end of the color spectrum, most Arabs are dark-skinned. To an African, over there on the melanin-rich end of the spectrum, I’m sure they look white.
To a south Indian, they are white, too, I imagine. Some of those folks are coal black! I find it interesting, myself. Very black skin, yet their facial features are very close to Caucasian.
At any rate, the race issue is a redskin, er, I mean, red herring.
It’s about Islam, and unless we are willing to fact that fact, and its unpleasant implications, we will lose.
For years now, one man made this his personal mission- to make sure gov’t and intel were monitoring and if possible shutting down Jihad networks on internet- no one cared to listen- he labored on almost alone and wihtout funds while major JEWiSH groups like ADL, raked in funds to kiss Muslim ass in “outreach” and inane, useless “interfaith dialogs”.
IN fact FACEBOOK admin SHUT HIM DOWN as a HATE SITE!! yes the suicidal lib Jew, Zuckerberg would NOT shut down these Jihad sites but did shut down the fighting JEWS-
This man can use your help– please join his website, and if you can DONATE!!! thejidf.org David Appletree
I heard they like to use cellphones too, we really ought to ban all cellphones.
Nowhere in my article is any mention made of ‘banning’ Facebook.
Merry Christmas.
Actually, to #5, Isahiah62, while I appreciate your kind words of support, we were not shut down off of Facebook as “hate site.” It was only my personal account which was removed, as I refused to give Facebook private details about myself, which could put my life at risk. So again, it was only my personal account.
The JIDF itself actually is alive an well on Facebook, with I think about 44,000 fans: http://www.facebook.com/thejidf.
You’re right that we have been on this front for a long time now—the Facebook Jihad has been covered in great detail on the JIDF site, and we were the first one’s to really be on top of it—when Facebook and large organizations did nothing, we infiltrated and destroyed many of the jihadist and antisemitic groups, pages, and content…while yes, there are still some groups and pages here and there on the site, it’s not like how it was….back then there were groups and pages with 10′s of thousands and even 100′s of thousands of fans and supporters. I think the largest group we took over was in support of Hezbollah and had over 118,000 members….it’s a shame our work isn’t mentioned in this article, because the “Facebook Jihad” is not what it once was, thanks in large part to JIDF activists… it is nice to see some others covering the problems there though…
Thanks for your work, David. Glad you are doing well. Keep it up!
There are laws against providing material support to terrorists.
Facebook needs to get its act together by getting on top of this problem and either eliminating this support, or, as the article suggests, reducing the number of outlets available in cooperation with counter-terrorist authorities.
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