So how do terrorist groups like ISIS (Islamic State) get so big? One tactic they use is propaganda through social media. So it sounds like they’re up to their old tricks again. ISIS uses dormant Twitter accounts.
In recent weeks, IT support leaders learn groups like ISIS uses dormant Twitter accounts for recruiting and other purposes. But they’re more subtle with it now. For instance, they’ll tweet in Arabic sharing propaganda from other accounts. Twitter’s security leaders deleted most accounts that are doing this, but some still exists. But how are they able to do this in the first place?
What these hackers are exploiting Twitter’s lack of email confirmation, so they can’t be traced. Therefore, they can use these, create new emails, and create new ones to re-register the Twitter account. I said many of these tweets are subtle, but not all of them. In fact, some of these tweets praised terror and violence. There’s one Twitter video that shows ISIS fighters showing off their weapons. Then there is one that praises violence and other attacks. Other tweets from ISIS talk about killing Christians and urge fighters to bomb innocent people with their cars. These aren’t the only tweets glorifying terror.
So why is this a big deal? Because there are people who are very venerable to this type of propaganda. There are people who feel at the end of their rope and that nobody loves them. There are those feeling they have nowhere to turn. Terror groups like ISIS prey on these kinds of situations. Now we find out they’re using dormant Twitter accounts to do just that. However, I do credit Twitter for staying on this, and suspending these accounts that are promoting this madness. But as we can see, more needs to done. But that can we do?