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Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism

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Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism RADICALIZATION: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE RISE OF TERRORISM HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 28, 2015 Serial No. 114–57 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 97–977 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah, Chairman JOHN L. MICA, Florida ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland, Ranking MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio Minority Member JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JIM JORDAN, Ohio ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of TIM WALBERG, Michigan Columbia JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee JIM COOPER, Tennessee TREY GOWDY, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan RON DESANTIS, Florida TED LIEU, California MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey KEN BUCK, Colorado STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands MARK WALKER, North Carolina MARK DeSAULNIER, California ROD BLUM, Iowa BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania JODY B. HICE, Georgia PETER WELCH, Vermont STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin WILL HURD, Texas GARY J. PALMER, Alabama SEAN MCLAUGHLIN, Staff Director DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director ART ARTHUR, Staff Director, Subommittee on National Security SARAH VANCE, Clerk (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY RON DESANTIS, Florida, Chairman JOHN L. MICA, Florida STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts, JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee Ranking Member JODY B. HICE, Georgia ROBIN KELLY, Illinois STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma, Vice Chair BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan WILL HURD, Texas TED LIEU, California (III) VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on October 28, 2015 .......................................................................... 1 WITNESSES The Honorable Mark D. Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, Counter Extremism Project, (Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 5 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 7 Mr. Walter Purdy, President, Terrorism Research Center Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 7 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 8 Dr. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of De- mocracies Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 9 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10 The Honorable Alberto M. Fernandez, Vice President, Middle East Media Research Institute, (Former U.S. Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea) Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 10 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 12 APPENDIX Letter to Chairman DeSantis and Ranking Member Lynch from Anti-Defama- tion League ........................................................................................................... 28 (V) VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER RADICALIZATION: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE RISE OF TERRORISM Wednesday, October 28, 2015 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ron DeSantis [chair- man of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives DeSantis, Duncan, Hice, Hurd, Lynch, Lieu and Kelly. Mr. DESANTIS. The Subcommittee on National Security will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a re- cess at any time. Today, the civilized world faces an unprecedented level of vio- lence fueled by Islamic extremism. Recent reports indicate that over 30,000 people from over 100 different countries have traveled to the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq to wage jihad since 2011. This group includes over 4,500 westerners and over 250 Americans who have attempted or actually joined Islamic supremacist groups. Both Al Qaeda’s global network and ISIS, among several other terrorist networks around the world, promote an ideology grounded in Is- lamic extremism and conquest. As the Congressional Research Service has found, these terror- ists use Islamist and ideological and/or religious justification for the belief in the establishment of a global caliphate, a jurisdiction governed by a Muslim civil and religious leader known as a caliph via violent means. As the ideology of militant Islam spreads, the threat to the U.S. and our allies, such as Israel, persists. Terrorist networks like Al Qaeda affiliates and ISIS, as well as extremists, clerics, and others, seek to spread this ideology in order to recruit, engage sympathizers, and criticize the West. Indeed, this propa- ganda is playing a role in promoting terrorist attacks in the U.S. where many homegrown cases of jihadi terrorism involve the use of social media. Several sources indicate that there are 90,000 pro-ISIS tweets on a daily basis. While others suggest that there may be as many as 200,000 such tweets. Accounts belonging to other foreign terrorist organizations, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, have a total of over 200,000 followers and are thriving. Offi- cial Twitter accounts belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra operate much like those belonging to ISIS, tweeting similar extremist content. ISIS’ use of platforms like Twitter is highly effective. YouTube vid- (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:50 Feb 01, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\97977.TXT APRIL AKING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 eos depicting violent acts against Westerners are used to incite oth- ers to take up arms and wage jihad. While foreign fighters travel overseas for training and to make other terrorist connections, it’s becoming apparent that Islamic re- cruits in the United States and other parts of the world who are unable to travel to these battlegrounds do not necessarily need to do so in order to receive training and inspiration. They can engage real time with jihadists on Twitter, watch ISIS’s murderous propa- ganda on YouTube, view jihadi selfies on Instagram, or read reli- gious justifications for the killing of civilians on Just Paste It. The question and answer Web site, ask.fm, has also become a popular platform for jihadists. Unfortunately, ISIS’s use of social media is believed to be reso- nating with vulnerable populations, particularly Muslim converts and susceptible alienated youth. However, radicalization of Ameri- cans cannot be narrowed to any single social or demographic pro- file. Instead, the Americans who are being radicalized to support and fight for Islamic extremists come from all walks of life. Those Americans who travel overseas to support terrorist groups can also incite others back home and abroad by their actions to conduct at- tacks and can themselves return back to the U.S. with training to complete terrorist attacks. The bottom line is that these foreign fighters have been trained in combat, have strong ties to terrorist groups, and recruit others to join the fight. The U.S. Government has the ability under the law to revoke passports on several grounds, including reasons of national security. The administration has not indicated they plan to utilize immigration controls as other countries have in order to stop foreign fighters. Nor is the danger posed to the United States by foreign fighters limited to those terrorists and adherents to ter- rorists groups who are U.S. citizens. In order to enter the United States, citizens of most countries must obtain visas issued at over- seas embassies and consulates by the State Department. In 2014, the State Department issued almost 10 million visas to foreigners seeking
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