Recently, social media has emerged as an essential tool for communication and information sharing. Around the globe, social media platforms are being used as powerful tools; however, these platforms are being exploited by individuals who work against the very interests of humanity. Among these individuals are terrorists who further the agenda of chaos and fear through social platforms.

Terrorist organizations exploit these platforms to disseminate propaganda, recruit members, fundraise, and incite violence.

On one side, platforms like X, Facebook, and Telegram etc have connected billions of people, but on the other side, these platforms are serving as unregulated spaces where non-state actors proliferate their extremist ideologies. The lack of strict oversight and the platform’s failure to address the misuse have created the space for terrorists to proliferate their content widely.

The basic idea of social media is to enhance dialogue and personal communication. However, for terrorist groups the social media offers unprecedented opportunities like propaganda dissemination, fundraising, and often recruitment. Given its fast-paced networking, social media allows terrorists’ content to reach a wider audience with minimal cost and effort.

The disturbing aspect of all this development is the inability of the social media platforms to remove troubling content. Though the majority of these platforms flag harmful content; however, at the same time, they enable such content to spread virally before any meaningful intervention.

Several different reports have highlighted that terrorist groups use social media platforms as their primary mean of communication. Over time, these groups have developed expertise in manipulating algorithms, maintaining anonymity, and connecting to a global audience.

From AQ and ISIS fighters to the radicalized lone wolves, these actors exploit social media platforms for posting threatening messages and sharing videos of bloodshed and killings. One such example is the Christchurch attack, where the terrorist employed a digital platform for furthering chaos and violence.

Another alarming feature of the terrorists’ use of social media is the type of content (videos, pictures, and infographics, etc) shared by terrorist groups. Messages threatening specific communities/governments, and glorifying ‘falsely’ the idea of Jihad, are routinely posted on accounts that have vague identities.

The repeated exposure to graphic content desensitizes users, normalizing trauma, fear, and violence.

Such accounts also post content that furthers religious or political hate and calls for action against certain social classes. Terrorist groups also post pictures of dead bodies of their soldiers to evoke strong emotional responses. Such pictures are carefully selected to radicalize young minds and intimidate the enemy. For terrorists, social media is a mere propaganda tool where they portray their fallen fighters as heroes.

These graphic images are blurred by the majority of social media platforms; however, the images become visible upon one click. Psychologists and social scientists remain largely of the view that such content leaves a drastic impact on the human psyche. Also, the repeated exposure to such graphic content desensitizes users. By repeatedly posting the graphic content, terrorists aim to normalize trauma, fear, and violence.

Social media users who are below the age of 18 remain vulnerable because such hateful and misleading content serves as a gateway toward extremist ideology. Social media platforms are generally used for promoting healthy dialogue, but at times, these forums fail to draw the line between societal norms and the content that aims at creating division and chaos.

A general analysis of the content shared via anonymous or often untraceable accounts suggests that the underlying message is always contradictory to shared human norms. The purpose of such messages is to glorify death or unjust killings. The unregulated proliferation of such content via anonymous accounts fosters extremism and creates division based on religion, color, and creed. Also, such content challenges the very values of co-existence and human dignity.

The most pressing challenge in this wake remains the regulation of the virtual space. As social media operates virtually, therefore, it easily bypasses state jurisdictions. Though state governments are increasingly adopting measures to regulate the use of social media but regulating the content remains a pressing challenge.

These platforms often claim that restricting users from posting content contradicts the idea of free speech. Thus, creating space for terrorist entities to proliferate content seems unacceptable by every means. This tug of regulating and posting hateful content has turned social media into a bubble where ideas are not filtered, but rather can be used to influence a large audience.

Anonymous accounts foster extremism and create division based on religion, color, and creed.

In Pakistan, the role of PTA and other state institutions remains praiseworthy. The state strictly monitors the content that violates the general public norms and incites violence, but there remains a need for developing a mechanism to filter and block flagged content right after it emerges on any social media platform.

Also, there is a need to develop AI-based filters that highlight social media content (pictures, graphic images, and comments) that are associated with terrorist entities. On the part of the platforms, stronger content moderation is required. Moderation should be multilingual to identify extremist messages more promptly and swiftly. A real-time monitoring mechanism should also be in place to better detect any suspicious activity before it reaches the wider audience.

Presently, no social media platform releases any report that gives an insight into its transparency or accountability mechanism. These platforms must have a mechanism that provides insight into the actions that the platform has initiated to regulate or remove extremist content. Also, a collaboration with state entities is required to improve the utility of social media platforms.

Stronger multilingual content moderation and real-time monitoring are essential to counter extremist activity online.

Social media platforms must empower individual users with tools that recognize false information and report that to the platform. The use of social media by terrorist entities is an important issue that must be addressed before the social media world turns into a breeding ground for hate and fear.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.