The Fight Against Cyber Jihad
The fight against Islamist Muslim extremism goes far beyond the battlefield of soldiers on the ground. It is more than U.S. law enforcement agencies stopping terror attacks on our home soil, the real battle “for hearts & minds” is on the internet and citizen cyber-warriors are at the forefront.
Through the use of use of leading social media platforms such as Google’s YouTube & BlogSpot, FaceBook &, increasingly Twitter, the Islamist jihadi are spreading the ideology of global Islamic supremacy, and recruiting young people all over the world to “kill the unbelievers for allah”.
At the forefront of this fight are a dedicated group of grassroots individuals who spend their free time tracking and reporting these various sites, exemplified by the YouTube SmackDown Corps.
I discovered these individuals by accident one day as I was debating with a proclaimed Muslim who believes that Islam is a religion of peace. That is a conversation for another time. It was at that time a person, who shall remain unnamed as he/she continues the fight against cyber Jihad, jumped to my defense. After easily making my point, and it’s not hard, this person told me about the “CJ”, Counter jihadist, and what they do.
They relentlessly comb various blogging and video websites in search of Islamist jihadi wannabe terrorist. Once discovered, they then begin collecting intelligence and tracking their movements. By searching blogs and the people who associate themselves with them, they follow the connections. Recording and reporting on the growing web of terrorism promoting Islamist jihadi.
The problem lies with Google. Google has developed a reputation, or so it would seem, of pandering to these terrorist. At times they can be slow at shutting down these YouTube sites and blogs, if at all.
Senator Joe Lieberman in particular has been vocal about this issue, especially in response to the New York Police Department arresting Jose Pimentel for building a pipe bomb that he planned to use to hurt, and with any success, kill U.S. military personnel.
“TPM obtained a letter sent by Lieberman, chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to Google CEO Larry Page on Tuesday calling for him to make some changes to their policy.
“Pimentel’s Internet activity — both his spreading of bomb-making instructions links and his hate-filled writings — were hosted by Google,” Lieberman wrote.
“On his site Pimentel stated, “People have to understand that America and its allies are legitimate targets in warfare. This includes facilities such as army bases, police stations, political facilities, embassies, CIA and FBI buildings, private and public airports, and all kinds of buildings where money is being made to help fund the war.’ As demonstrated by this recent case, Google’s web hosting site, Blogger is being used by violent Islamist extremists to broadcast terrorist content,” Lieberman continued.”
Lieberman continues “Through your updated YouTube standards, Google has affirmatively stated that terrorist content will not be permitted on some of your sites. I strongly believe that Google should expand that standard to include your other platforms.”
This is Google’s response to Lieberman’s request regarding Youtube videos in 2008. To this date, Google his issued no response regarding Blogspot.
Psychological warfare is a valuable tool that the Jihadist can use to lure in individuals who can’t seem to find their place in the world. Young males in particular. Allowing the enemy to use these sites affords them the opportunity to build moral and make people sympathetic to their cause. I urge everyone who reads this to contact their senators and tell them to support Senator Lieberman and keep the pressure on Google to shut these YouTube and blog sites down.