Twitter's big #TerrorismProblem

By Susan Crabtree, Susan Crabtree

Published December 20, 2015

Those keeping a close watch on jihadist threats and recruiting on social media sites say Twitter is largely ignoring calls to block tweets from Islamic extremists, and note that the famous social networking company has done little to stop accelerated calls for attacks around the July Fourth holiday and during Ramadan.

Counterterrorism groups point to a late June call for attacks from the spokesman for the Islamic State, Muhammad al-Adnani, as the latest example of how the Islamic State has been able to weaponize Twitter.

"We need not look further than the attacks in Kuwait, Tunisia, France and Egypt over the past week for evidence of how concerning this threat really is," said Mark Wallace, the CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit formed to combat the threat from extremist ideologies.

Last fall, CEP launched a social media campaign, using the hashtag #CEPDigitaldisruption, to target and shut down hundreds of terrorists' Twitter and Facebook accounts. In late June, the group opened offices in Berlin and Brussels to expand its reach and influence, and translate tweets and threats emanating from Europe.