The role of social network sites in security risks and crises: The information warfare of terrorism

Abstract

Social Network Sites (SNS) have in recent years received significant universal attention in the way they have changed lives socially, politically and economically through distinct components that enable people from all over the world to connect instantly. This work analyses the aggressive nature in which terrorists quickly adapt to these SNS vis-à-vis governments’ approach to risk communication and situational crisis communication using the same media. It additionally examines literature on the publics’ cumulative behaviour regarding the use of SNS in the context of terror attacks and the terrorists’ use of the same media to coordinate their operations in recruiting people to join their organisations, planning and execution of terror attacks. To achieve that, this chapter investigates the online cumulative behaviour which has been witnessed recently (e.g. during the Westgate Mall attack by Al-Shabaab in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013) and the terrorists taking advantage of these platforms [e.g. the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)] to stimulate crises of national security.