Information Operations (IO)

ISIS and Social Media. Radical jihadi fighters have found a voice on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and other Internet platforms.. The jihadists generate support, spread their message, raise money, and recruit using social media. While government efforts are underway to counter the jihadist message it has - up to this point - been largely ineffective. The jihadist network is just too big and much more flexible than any of the government organizations. Many of the foreign fighters now fighting in Syria have been recruited via social media. Some social media platforms have taken to banning these jihadist accounts - Facebook, Twitter, etc. Read more in "Should ISIS fighters be allowed on social media platforms?", by Maddy Crowell, Yahoo! News, November 21, 2015.

Paper - Social Media and Articulation of Radical Narratives in Afghanistan. This research and policy paper wrote by Niamatullah Ibrahimi, Musab Omer, and Mohammad Irfani was provided logistical support by the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies (AISS) and financial support from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The report was done in November 2015. "The paper explores the role of social media as a medium of articulation of religiously-inspired radical ideologies and narratives in Afghanistan." www.aiss.af/publications/papers/

Tolo TV Targeted by Taliban. An Afghan media mogul is named as a target by the Taliban because of his (and his firm's) showcasing of Taliban atrocities. Read more in "The Muslim Media Mogul Standing Up to ISIS and the Taliban", The Daily Beast, by Lloyd Grove, November 26, 2015.

Should Jihadist Websites Be Shut Down? One writer thinks it would be bad policy to censor terrorist content on the Internet. Read more in "Shutting Down Jihadist Websites Won't Stop Terrorism", by Kaveh Waddel, The Atlantic, November 24, 2015.

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