New Terrorism and New Media

This short 2014 article discusses the turn to social media by Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and particularly their presence on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. The author raises a number of points about why terrorists have moved to social media platforms, in what he refers to as Electronic Jihad, Facebook Terrorism, Twitter Terrorism, YouTube Terrorism, and Instagram and Flickr Terrorism. The article also discusses some of the implications of the jihadist colonization of cyberspace and social platforms, and for counterterrorism moving forward.

The article will be of use to researchers and practitioners interested in understanding some of the issues surrounding jihadist use of cyberspace and social media platforms in particular. The author also presents some historical background of jihadist use of the Internet more broadly.