At Least 300 Americans Serve as ISIS Social Media Ambassadors – GWU Report
Brooke Knightley | | Dec 02, 2015 08:17 AM EST |
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES / Rafe Swan) A new study has revealed that there are up to 300 American ISIS agents - most females - who are responsible for spreading the group's propaganda and getting new recruits.
At least 300 American citizens are serving as social media ambassadors for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), based on a recent report.
George Washington University's (GWU) Program on Extremism released a new report saying most of the American ISIS agents are female and they use the internet to spread extremist propaganda and recruit new members.
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The report highlighted the important role of social media in the radicalization and mobilization of ISIS sympathizers in America.
While Twitter has been quick to suspend the accounts of suspected ISIS sympathizers, new accounts crop up within just a few hours to replace them. For six months, GWU researchers observed the Twitter profiles of 300 American ISIS sympathizers and took careful note of the avatars they chose. Many of those profiles contain black flags, green birds, and lions, according to the Independent Journal (IJ).
It is also worth noting that a third of the online accounts that GWU examined belong to female ISIS sympathizers. Their activities range from creating ISIS propaganda messages, retweeting content, and promoting new accounts which replaced suspended profiles.
The GWU report revealed that ISIS extremists meet potential recruits in person to strengthen the members' commitment. One member in Texas mingles with an Islamic studies organization and some charismatic people. Another group is made up of former friends from high school. This finding could be used to trace local networks of the terror group's sympathizers, the report adds.
GWU Program on Extremism's director Lorenzo Vidino spoke about their findings on Tuesday.
"What we do see in the United States is an unprecedented mobilization..." the IJ quotes Vidino's statement on Tuesday. "It is not as big as some of the European countries that have been affected by the phenomenon, but it is, in a historical sense, unprecedented."
Since March 2014, federal authorities have charged 71 individuals with activities connected to ISIS. This year, they apprehended another 56 people who have supported or helped plan activities with the terrorist group.
TagsGeorge Washington University's (GWU) Program on Extremism, American ISIS Social Media Ambassadors, ISIS, ISIS Recruits, ISIS recruitment, ISIS recruitment of women
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