Download - Terror on the Internet
TERROR ON THE INTERNET The New Arena, The New Challenges
THE AUTHOR: GABRIEL WEIMANN
Professor of Communication at Haifa
University
Research interests: media effects, modern
terrorism, and mass media
Six publications; three of which are about
terrorism
Has taught at many universities,
including Upenn, Standford, Hofstra, and
Lehigh
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Who are the terrorists of the internet?
How do terrorists use the internet?
What rhetorical devices do terrorists web sites
use?
Who are the target audiences of terrorist sites
What counterterrorism measures are in place on
the Internet, and how successful are they?
What are the costs of such measures in terms of
privacy and freedom of expression?
DEFINITION OF TERRORISM
“… Terrorism is an ethereal philosophy,
and terrorist actors engage in terrorism
for a variety of purposes…”
“… is a tactic, not a palpable foe or group,
not even a political or ideological
category…”
“… without terror induced by the
terrorists, there can be no terrorism. Fear,
therefore, is a key element in terrorism.”
IDENTIFYING TERRORISM‟S HALLMARKS
Premeditated – planned and prepared in advance
rather than an impulsive outburst of rage.
Political – designed to change the existing
political order– and not criminal.
Directed at civilians– not at troops or other
military targets
Perpetrated by sub national groups rather than
by the army of a state.
Paul Pillar, Deputy Chief of the CIA
counterterrorist Center
ACTS OF TERROR: KEY ELEMENTS
Use of violence
Symbolic choice of victims
Performance by an organization
Operational seriality
Advance planning
Absence of moral restraint
Political motivation
Use of fear and anxiety
Political Terrorism Alex P. Schmid, Albert
Johnston
HOW MODERN TERRORISM AND THE
INTERNET MET
Internet: 1970s, „packets‟, network of computer
networks
“ With the enormous growth in the size and use
of the network, utopian visions of the promise of
the internet were challenged by the proliferation
of pornographic and violent content on the Web
and by the use of the internet by extremists
organizations of various kinds”
TERRORISM IN MODERNITY
“ It is less central, less structured, less organized,
and less local, yet it is much more dangeroua
than the terrorism of the pre-2000 era.
Deterritorialization (interstate) in nature
Absence of state sponsorship
Hybrid of political and religious fanatic character
Ability to mutate rapidly according to
circumstances
Pragmatic
Enormous killing power (compared to Cold war)
OLD TERRORISM VS. NEW TERRORISM
more global and intended to “export”
conflict and widen the threat in
order to challenge the world order
secular vs. fundamentalist
nationalist and state related vs.
more transnational and global
Not interested in death/injury but
rather psychological victimization on
a wider public (violence v. attention)
OLD TERRORISM VS. NEW TERRORISM
international in the sense of collaboration and solidarity among various groups and organizations vs. terms of scope of the “target”
Directed messages to specific target populations defined by location vs. global communities
Based on structured organizations vs. loosely knit networks lacking hierarchical structures.
INTERACTIVITY
Ability to connect with millions of people who
share attitudes, values, and ideas
Cyberspace is interactive: users can choose what
information they receive and send
Communities maintain and reinforce their
identity in new and compelling ways.
Anthems, Legends, genealogies, histories,
photographs, manuscripts, and other propaganda
can be protected, distributed, and accessed
Internet as a channel of of communication
linking terrorists and their follwers
Internet can be attacked (cyberterrorism)
WHY THE INTERNET IS A GOOD „ARENA‟
Easy access
Little to no regulation
Potentially large audience
Anonymity
Fast flow of information
Inexpensive to develop and maintain a website
Multimedia environment
PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR
Relies on mass media: panic produced by
broadcast
Four target audiences: supporters of
organization, population that organization
serves, the enemy, international public opinion
“terror attacks on New York heightened
American‟s fear of more terrorism to come and …
that they might become victims. This effect was
not lost on bin Laden and his associates.”
“America, full of fear from north to south, from
west to east. Thank God for that” - OBL
MUNICH 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEy5OOS1eAI
“ … We knew that the people in England and
America would switch their sets from any
program about the plight of the Palestinians if
there was a sporting event on another channel…
So we decided to use their Olympics to make the
world pay attention to us. … Nobody could ignore
the Palestinians or their cause.”
800 million viewers
MOSCOW 2002, NEW YORK 2001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db_LK6wyAH
Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVhhu5OjMf8
“terrorists engage in recurrent rhetorical forms
that force the media to provide the access without
which terrorism could not fulfill its objectives.”
Terrorists who loathed pop-culture turned
Hollywood horror into real life hell
Bright day light = spectacular footage
EXAMPLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TERRORISM
Anthrax 2001-2002
OBL video recordings
Daniel Pearl
Sawt al- Jihad (al Qaeda magazine)
Riyadh Wills reading
Hamas weapons in civilian areas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFl51__Q9Gc
MODERN DAY TERRORISTS
Middle East:
Hamas (Gaza)
Hezbollah (Lebanon)
Al-Aqsa (Jerusalem)
Fatah Tanzim (West Bank)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Gaza)
Kurdish Workers Party, Popular Democratic
Liberation Front, Great East Islamic Raiders Front
(Turkey)
MODERN DAY TERRORISTS
Europe
Basque ETA Movement (Western Pyrenees)
Armata Corsa (Corsica)
Real Irish Republican Army (Ireland)
Latin America
Tupac-Amaru (Puru)
Columbian National Liberation Army ( Columbia)
Zapatista National Liberation Army (Mexico)
Asia
Red Army (Japan)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Sri Lanka)
Rebel Movement (Chechnya)
MODERN TERRORISTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Significant redirection of resources by
organizations that have adapted to the digital
age
Websites include: info about leaders, founders,
ideological aims, news bulletins and updates,
social and political background, notable activities
in past, current and future plans.
Most avoid references on their own sites to own
violence ( except Hamas, Hezbollah and al-
Zarqawi)
Dead Martyr counter
Killed enemies, collaborators
MODERN TERRORISTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Highlight freedom if expression and political
prisoners
Terrorists aim at Western audiences who are
sympathetic and sensitive to the norms of FoE
“Non-violent political group” embarrass the
governments against which they are struggling.
RHETORICAL TACTICS
Displacement of responsibility
Diffusion of responsibility
Dehumanization of targets
Use of euphemistic language
Making advantageous comparisons
Distortion of sequence of events
Attribution of blame
INSTRUMENTAL USES OF INTERNET
Data mining
Networking
Recruitment
Mobilization
Instructions
Online manuals
Planning and coordination
Fund-raising
HOW REAL IS THE THREAT
“Tomorrows Terrorist may be able to do more
damage with a keyboard than with a bomb”
National Research Council
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICgpAkddfFY
Attacks against the internet increase at an
annual rate above 60%
Average business will experience 32 break ins a
week
APPEAL
Cheaper
All you need is public access; spread viruses and damage infrastructure using a library computer
Anonymity
Anon handles, „guest user‟
Number of Targets
Who doesn’t use the internet?
Launched from a distance
Less physical training, psychological investment, risk of death or capture
Potential to harm greater number of people
Thus, generating greater media coverage
If [x] then the terrorists have won!
HACKERS VS. HACKTIVIVISTS VS.
TERRORISTS
Hacker: No political agenda, Thrill-seekers,
“script kiddies”, “cyber-joyriders”
Hacktivist: hacking with political agenda.
Virtual blockades
Generate traffic, shut down site
E-mail attacks
Ping-attacks
Hacking and computer break-ins
Computer viruses and worms
Do not want to kill, maim, or terrorize; want to
protest and disrupt
Blurred, esp. when terrorists hire hacktivists
EXAMPLES OF CYBER TERRORISM
Attack on financial system: attack on computer
system of banks, stock exchange; loss of
confidence in economic system
ATC: cause two large CivAv planes to collide.
Can also control train and metro systems
Pharma manufactures: Change formulas for
medications, thus rendering them life-
threatening
Energy Systems: change pressure in gas lines
and cause valve failures or failures of Electrical
grid