Terrorists have become experts in using social media to spread their message, find new recruits, and coordinate acts of violence. That fact has led to increasingly invidious accusations among lawmakers who believe current policies may have contributed to recent deaths, and led others to grasp for proposals that could counter the trend.
“A group like ISIS, their ability to leverage social media is unprecedented, and that’s how they’re inspiring people 10,000 miles away,” Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, told the Washington Examiner.
“We need to counter the message and make sure people know that ISIS is killing more Muslims than anyone else, know that when you go to fight with ISIS, it’s not adventure and paradise, that you’re more likely to get a bomb dropped on your head, or two bullets in your chest,” said Hurd, who also chairs the House Subcommittee on Information Technology.
It was through that kind of online communication, specifically on social media and a dating site, that the perpetrators of a Dec. 2 attack in San Bernardino, Calif., are believed to have met. The failure of security officials to take note prior to the attack has been a point of frustration for lawmakers.
“In light of the terrorism in San Bernardino … it appears that [the] policy of willful blindness toward the reality and danger of radical Islam in the United States contributed to the death of 14 Americans here at home,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in a Jan. 22 statement.
Cruz was referring to a claim that originated in a Dec. 12 report in The New York Times. The publication suggested that officials at the Department of Homeland Security have not been allowed to look at social media in determining whether to approve applicants for visas to the U.S. Had they been able to do so, it was suggested, it could have stopped the perpetrators in the Dec. 2 attack.
President Obama took umbrage with the report shortly after its publication, saying at a press conference that the paper had “garbled” the issue by conflating private posts with public ones. “It’s important to distinguish between posts that are public, social media on a Facebook page, versus private communications through various social media or apps,” Obama said.
The publication promptly issued an update that noted that communications specifically about violent jihad “were not made in widely accessible social media posts,” but rather on a “messaging platform.”
The administration has declined to identify the platform or the nature of the posts, which purportedly included messages praising past acts of terrorism. That has led to consternation for lawmakers such as Cruz, who also requested that DHS provide him with any documentation pertaining to its policies on the matter.
The confusion surrounding existing policies, and the lack of clear information, has not impeded lawmakers from proposing a litany of laws. Some of those proposals could be helpful, while others have met with more criticism.
One that falls in the latter category, proposed in December by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would require companies to report “the facts or circumstances” of any “terrorist activity” that they happen to come across in the course of their daily activity.
The legislation is aimed principally at forcing tech companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, to assist in the federal government’s surveillance efforts. Is a law that imposes more regulation on the private sector really necessary, particularly if security officials have been prevented from looking at social media in the past?
“A knee-jerk reaction is always, ‘Hey, let’s propose some legislation,’ without necessarily thinking through what the problem is,” Hurd said. “The social media companies are already working with law enforcement. They’re not trying to allow this kind of stuff on their networks.”
Other proposals have found more consensus. A bill proposed by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, that would ask DHS to produce a written document summarizing its policies within 90 days, passed the House by acclamation in December. Another bill, introduced the same month by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., would simply require DHS to ensure the screening of social media.
The effort has two components. One is detecting terrorists who use social media so they can be stopped, and the second, spoken to by Hurd, is countering their message in order to stem the flow of new recruits. While Congress has several proposals that fall in the first category, fewer fall in the second.
In a Jan. 21 speech in Paris, Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke to that reality. “We’re having some success … I would like to have even more, but democracies are slow, and they only tell the truth,” he said. “And in a message-driven Internet world, that puts you at a structural disadvantage compared to people who are nimble, agile and lie. But we ought to try to do better.”
That mission, Hurd suggests, is something that law can only do so much to affect.
“It’s something the government can’t do alone,” Hurd said. “We’ve got to work with our partners around the world, we’ve got to work with non-governmental agencies, philanthropic organizations. It’s hard to do.
“But that’s where we should be putting our time and energy,” he added, “not putting onerous regulations on folks who are already trying and cooperating to keep our country safe.”
