Tackling cyber-terrorism: Balancing surveillance with counter-communication

Abstract

Cyberspace has expanded the arena within which extremists and terrorists operate, posing a range of new challenges, many of which are still to be addressed. From propaganda through recruitment to financing and attack planning, the use of the Internet has been growing in size, subtlety and sophistication, often blurring the legal with the illegal. Its interconnectivity, anonymity and affordability have served Muslim extremists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis alike. The present article analyses the online challenges posed by such groups, pointing out how they might be potentially hampered by combining the currently dominant online surveillance with marginalized cyber (counter-) communication. It also highlights the mechanisms of decision making based on matters of principle and honour, the factors that typically drive terrorist actions, showing the inadequacy of the traditional economic models, on which the surveillance largely depends and risks scaring extremists off the radar.

Psychology perspectives on community vengeance as a terrorist motivator: a review

“…Vengeance has been used in a variety of settings for why people engage in anti-social or violent actions (e.g., fire-setting; Barnoux & Gannon, 2014). Importantly, it is important to acknowledge that is only a minority of individuals engaging in actual acts of violence as most terror group members offer only support that may take logistical, financial or planning forms (Palasinski & Bowman-Grieve, 2017).…”

“…Thus, the vengeance motive against indiscriminate outgroup civilians might be potentially undermined by ingroupinducing verbal primes that redefine the supposedly 'evil others' as sharing at least some characteristics of the 'justice'-seeking ingroup. One way to put it into practice might be online counter-terror communication (Palasinski, & Bowman-Grieve, 2017).…”

“…Thus, the vengeance motive against indiscriminate out-group civilians might be potentially undermined by in-group-inducing verbal primes that redefine the supposedly "evil others" as sharing at least some characteristics of the "justice"-seeking in-group. One way to put it into practice might be online counter-terror communication (Palasinski and Bowman-Grieve, 2017). Such communication in the form of webcasts or podcasts can challenge the rhetoric of cherry-picking merchants of hatred or divert some of the street warfare to rhetorical exchanges in cyberspace.…”

“…fire-setting). Importantly, it is important to acknowledge that is only a minority of individuals engaging in actual acts of violence as most terror group members offer only support that may take logistical, financial or planning forms (Palasinski and Bowman-Grieve, 2017).…”

Anxiety about digital security and terrorism, and support for counter-terror measures

“…Thus, while the Internet facilitates exposure to extremist activities, it also affords opportunities for those engaged in counter-terrorism as they can gain intelligence about individuals, their connections and likely their intentions (Palasinski and Bowman-Grieve, 2017;Pantucci, 2014). While the increased anxiety about the US government's monitoring was found to be matched by the decreased support for domestic counterterrorism policies (Best et al, 2012), the increased sense of people's threat was moderated by a decreased support for civil liberties (Davis and Silver, 2004).…”