Terrorist groups get wired

A pro-Taliban website proclaims its message for all to see

THE typical jihadi is imagined crouched in a trench clenching an AK-47, but recent events seem to suggest that militants may be equally at home behind a computer screen.According to a recent report in The Washington Post, Taliban-linked groups have purchased web-hosting from many US providers, such as ThePlanet, a Texas based company.Taking advantage of the anonymity afforded by the firm, extremists were able to use a credit card to pay ThePlanet to host their website, which they used to post pro-Taliban propaganda for an extended period of time, before eventually being shut down by USauthorities alerted to their presence by a blogger.‘The relatively cheap expense and high quality of US servers seems to attract jihadists,’ The Washington Post quoted Rita Katz, co-founder of the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups, as saying.Despite the irony of militants turning to US companies to spread anti-American views, experts contend that the news is not all bad — vital information can be gleaned from monitoring the online conversations between Taliban sympathisers, and websites such as http://toorabora.com. However, given the virulent hate speech commonly found on such websites, authorities often scramble to shut them down.While it has been relatively common for militants to post their views in private chat rooms or hard-to-find websites since 2001, the trend of Taliban media appearing on mainstream file-sharing sites such as YouTube and Google video emerged about two years ago.In 2006, the Guardian quoted Josh Devon, a senior analyst at the Site Institute, as saying ‘propaganda for [extremists] is paramount.… They realise the powerful effect these videos have — especially on people who are sympathetic. It’s a great way for them to communicate with the masses. Without the internet it is very unlikely jihadist groups could command the power that they do.’Beyond videos and photographs, extremists have gone so far as to modify the popular virtual world, Second Life, to allow users to take part in ‘virtual terrorism,’ according to reports in the London-based daily, The Times.According to the newspaper, extremists have bought virtual land within the game on which they train and equip members to carry out acts of terrorism and ‘virtual atrocities.’These disturbing trends go a long way towards explaining the appeal of terrorist groups, as well as their ability to adopt cutting-edge technology and popular culture to achieve their goals.