UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE
Social Media in International and
Domestic Terrorism
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Evaluate historical trends of domestic terrorism in the United States of America.
4. Outline counterterrorism strategies used to reduce terrorism within the borders of the United States.
8. Explain the growing use of mass media and social media in domestic terrorism.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
1
4
8
Learning Activity
Unit Lesson
Chapter 15, pp. 429–440
Unit VII Research Paper
Unit Lesson
Chapter 15, pp. 429–440
Unit VII Research Paper
Unit Lesson
Chapter 15, pp. 429–440
Unit VII Reflection Paper
Required Unit Resources
Chapter 15: Terrorism, Intelligence, and Homeland Security: The Future, pp. 429–440
Unit Lesson
This unit will examine how domestic and international terrorist groups such as ISIS are using social media
and mass media to recruit new members. Further, it will outline how terrorist organizations use propaganda
on the Internet and through social media to gain financial support and global notoriety. Lastly, this unit will
outline the growing threat of ISIS to the global community.
ISIS: The New Global Threat
ISIS has become the strongest terrorist threat against the United States and its allies. Many members of ISIS
reside in Iraq, Syria, and remote areas of Afghanistan. The United Nations and the United States have
deployed more troops to the Middle East to battle this new threat. In addition to fighting this terrorist
organization on the ground, the fight has migrated to the World Wide Web. The United States has several
entities that are currently in place to fight the virtual threat of ISIS.
The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have dozens of individuals working on the
threat, but the threat continues to grow more and more every day. ISIS has been known to have up to 46,000
accounts on Twitter alone (Berger & Morgan, 2015). As Twitter shuts the accounts down, they are back up
and running under a new alias in a matter of seconds. To date, ISIS has recruited more than 25,000 members
to the Middle East through effective and efficient online recruitment (Lederer, 2015). In addition to using new
forms of communication, they are now using peer-to-peer recruitment, which recruits individuals online by
sending personalized messages to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn mailboxes.
HLS 2301, Introduction to Terrorism
1
This is a very difficult threat to counter because the messages are being sent UNIT
to individualized
accounts of
x STUDY GUIDE
non-threatening members of society. Law enforcement is only able to counter Title
peer-to-peer threats if there is a
suspicion that the recipient is a threat to the United States and its allies. The only other method is for the
recipient to report the threat to the authorities. By this time, the sender of the peer-to-peer message has
already closed and created a new account and alias, thus making it extremely difficult to counter.
Understanding the Growth and Concealment of ISIS
In order to combat the new global threat, the United States and its allies must work together in a united front.
If nations do not work together and use the same strategies, then they will not be successful. Currently, the
United States and its allies are using a variety of different strategies to counter the new threats. The varying
strategies are not working to the fullest extent possible.
Since May of 2015, in the previous twelve months alone, ISIS has taken back control over the Iraq cities of
Ramadi, Falluja, Mosul, and several cities to the North of Baghdad (Akbar, Cockroft, Tomlinsin, & Robinson,
2015). These invasions do not take into account the other transitions that ISIS has made. Many of the United
States allies want to use airstrikes and military force to remove the threat. However, U.S. experts have
confirmed that ISIS is not just a ground threat, but that members are deeply rooted in Western society and
abroad. Traditional methods cannot be used to counter ISIS. Research also indicates that terrorist
organizations in other countries have also changed their names to ISIS to join the growing trend, to include
the following:
(Ansar Bait al-Maqdis) through Libya (Barka Province) to Algeria (Jund al-Khilafah) have changed
their names to match, and mature Jihadi groups have pledged allegiance or alliance as far away as
Somalia (al-Shabaab), Nigeria (Boko Haram), Pakistan (Jundallah), and Malaysia (Abu Sayyaf).
(Newsome, 2015, para. 4)
Since the United States and its allies have withdrawn the majority of troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other
war torn nations, ISIS has captured millions of weapons, munitions, vehicles, and other resources left behind.
It is reported that the terrorist organization also has tanks, surface to air missiles, and thousands of mines that
can be used to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs) (United Nations Security Council, 2014). With these
types of weapons, it allows the insurgents to be equally weaponized as the counter forces being used to
combat them. Also, ISIS has taken over many of the privatized oil wells and has been selling oil on the black
market to finance its campaigns.
As indicated above, ISIS is a newly formed organization and has become talented in the area of concealment.
Aerial attacks and airstrikes will only alter their objectives. In past instances, the United States and its allies
have been able to counter groups such as Al Qaeda because they were in one centralized location. ISIS
travels in civilian vehicles, and many reside in typical civilian homes. It is nearly impossible to differentiate the
public from the insurgents, thus creating collateral damage for the general public. In order to begin countering
the threat, the United States and its allies must use reliable intelligence to target the financial assets of the
groups to include oil wells, oil fields, and munition stockpiles. Also, ground forces must be used to flush out
the insurgents from their hiding places.
Strategies to Combat Insurgents and ISIS
In order to combat ISIS and its followers the United States and its allies must implement several strategies in
order to be successful:
Create a multi-force-point military action plan for Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
Provide additional arms, munitions, and weapons to smaller tribes and military forces fighting ISIS in
remote areas of the world.
Continue the military training efforts in Middle East countries to train forces to deal with the threats at
a local and regional level. Integrating Special Forces troops to instruct this training is key.
In order for airstrikes to be successful, gainful intelligence must be gathered by ground troops and
forward air controllers on the ground. These forces can call in accurate coordinates for airstrikes to
omit the hidden threats.
Continue the political and global efforts being utilized to gain support to counter ISIS across the
globe.
HLS 2301, Introduction to Terrorism
2
UNIT x to
STUDY
GUIDE
Increase the number of United States and global counterterrorism personnel
fight the
growing
threat of ISIS.
Title
Establish effective relationships with senior members of social media websites to promote the
importance of removing insurgent profiles in a timely and efficient manner.
References
Akbar, J., Cockroft, S., Tomlinson, S., & Robinson, J. (2015, May 17). Iraq braced for the battle of Baghdad:
Chilling images show ISIS victory parade after fanatics seize key city of Ramadi. Retrieved from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3085486/ISIS-claim-taken-control-Iraqi-city-Ramadi-securityforces-flee-following-series-suicide-car-bombings.html
Berger, J. M., & Morgan J. (2015). The ISIS Twitter census: Defining and describing the population of ISIS
supporters on Twitter. Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/isis-twitter-census-bergermorgan/isis_twitter_census_berger_morgan.pdf
Lederer E. M. (2015, April 1). UN report: More than 25,000 foreigners fight with terrorists. Retrieved from
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2015/04/02/u-n-report-more-than-25000-foreignersfight-with-terrorists/
Newsome, B. (2015, March 2) How to defeat ISIS (and why it probably won't happen) [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2015/03/02/how-to-defeat-isis-and-why-it-probably-wont-happen/
United Nations Security Council. (2014). Letter dated 13 November 2014 from the Chair of the Security
Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida
and associated individuals and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council.
Retrieved from http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2014_815.pdf
Suggested Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
These documents provide more insight into terrorists’ use of media.
Greene, K. J. (2015). ISIS: Trends in terrorist media and propaganda. International Studies Capstone
Research Papers. Retrieved from
http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=international_studies_
capstones
Montoya, J. W., & Hofstetter, F. (2014). ISIL’s utilization of multimedia to fulfill their quest of creating a new
Islamic state. Retrieved from http://www.udel.edu/edtech/gallery/examples/Jennifer-Montoya-SocialMedia-Islamic-State.pdf
Nyt, B. H., & Shane, S. (2014, August 30). ISIS displaying a deft command of varied media. International New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.garyvollbracht.com/wp-content/uploads/14.08.31NYT-ISISDisplaying-a-Deft-Command-of-Varied-Media.pdf
Tracy, J. F. (2014). ISIS is America’s new terror brand: Endless propaganda fuels “war on terror”. Global
Research. Retrieved from https://www.globalresearch.ca/isis-is-americas-new-terror-brand-endlesspropaganda-fuels-war-on-terror/5398675
Weimann, G. (2014). New terrorism and new media. Research Series, 2. Retrieved from
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/STIP_140501_new_terrorism_F_0.pdf
HLS 2301, Introduction to Terrorism
3
Purchase answer to see full
attachment