Saturday, October 12, 2013

Why Terror Groups Like Twitter

Suspected members of al-Shabaab, the Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliate that live-tweeted last month’s attack on Westgate mall in Kenya. (REUTERS)

Does Twitter Have a Terrorism Problem? -- FOX News

Twitter is home to celebrities, major corporations and even world leaders. Unfortunately, it’s also used by bad guys, like terrorists.

Last month, al-Shabaab live-tweeting its siege on the Westgate mall in Kenya that left at least 72 people dead. The account was recently shut down by Twitter, but not before gaining more than 5,500 followers.

As it races towards its much-hyped initial public offering, the presence of terrorists poses a vexing problem for Twitter, which must balance the interests of users, shareholders, advertisers and even global spy agencies.

Read more ....

My Comment: The debate on the role of Twitter/social media and it's use by terror groups is just starting .... but the genie is out of the bottle, and how to regulate it will only stifle the valuable service that social media does bring to its millions of users.

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