ISIS has combined brutality with social media acumen to become one of the most feared and reviled organizations on earth in recent months, publicly releasing videos of be headings of Americans and British hostages in addition to broadcasting other unspeakable acts of violence.
Their latest video is not horrific or extreme. Rather, they have released a video game trailer, cut and edited in a way to try and recruit new, young members into the organization. Throughout the three minutes and 39 seconds of the video, various clips taken from GTA 5 are shown, such as a man hiding in the bushes shooting with a sniper, fighters shouting Allahu Akbar as they attack a military convoy, and a man pulling out of a police officer from his car and shooting hime to death. In between these clips, the video shows an image of ISIS logo incorporated with the GTA styling. At the end, of the video, the words "Flames of War" appear, followed by a tagline that says: "Fighting has just begun."
It is not clear if ISIS has developed a modified version of GTA 5 as a tool to train combatants or if it is simply using the game to entice young gamers to upgrade their brands of violence from video games to real life. El Fagr, a Cairo-based independent publication says ISIS intended the video to "raise the morale of Mujahideen, and then training of children and young teenagers to fight the West, and throw terror into the hearts of opponents of the state."
COMBATING ISIS ONLINE RECRUITMENT
TERROR HAS GONE SOCIAL
We thought Zerofox provided a very illuminating and easy to understand infographic on ISIS Social Media strategy. Click on the link below or peruse through the posters!
ECHO CHAMBER & SOCIAL MEDIA
This NY Times article provides a up-to-date information on the organization's social media strategy. It highlights key findings from the recent ISIS social media study from George Washington University.
Diversity - Out of the 71 individuals arrested for egging on ISIS related activities, 40% were recent Muslim converts. There was no ethnic trend amonst group. Most importantly, they were all young - with an average age of 26.
Insular Community - "They share memes and inside jokes, terms and phrases you'd only know if you were a follwer."
*The insular culture reinforces the idea that the United States is at war with islam and portrays terrorist groups as nobly resisting America's global military ambitions.
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