IS Using Twitter To 'Crowdsource Terrorism'
The extremist group's use of social media and end-to-end encryption presents challenges not seen before, the head of the FBI says.
Wednesday 16 December 2015 18:09, UK
Islamic State militants' use of social media and encrypted communications has "revolutionised" terrorism, FBI Director James Comey has said.
Speaking at a counterterrorism conference, the FBI boss said the extremist group has perfected the use of social media - Twitter in particular- to inspire small-scale individual attacks.
He said: "Twitter works as a way to sell books, as a way to promote movies, and it works as a way to crowdsource terrorism - to sell murder."
Mr Comey added that IS employs "end-to-end" encryption that poses significant challenges not previously encountered by investigators.
"Your parents' al Qaeda was a very different model than the threat we face today," he told the audience in New York City on Wednesday.
His remarks came amid heightened concerns over national security, particularly in the wake of the IS-inspired attack in San Bernardino, California, and the 13 November terror attacks in Paris.
Mr Comey said the FBI currently has "hundreds" of investigations in all 50 states linked to possible IS-inspired plots.
He added that despite the challenges facing investigators, he is convinced law enforcement can work with technology companies without compromising personal privacy.
The monitoring of social media as a way to identify potentially violent extremists was a hot-button issue during Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas.
GOP front-runner Donald Trump reaffirmed his willingness to shut down parts of the internet to stymie extremists from spreading propaganda.
"ISIS is using the internet better than we are using the internet and it was our idea," he said.
On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson responded to criticism that his agency did not routinely consult social media during the vetting process for visa applications.
Without specifying with ones, Mr Johnson said his department earlier this year began consulting social media before granting certain immigration benefits.
He said: "We had policies in place regarding consulting social media which in my judgment, particularly in this current environment, were too restrictive."
The Homeland chief added DHS would be "doing more" in regard to reviewing social media.
One of the attackers in San Bernardino, where 14 people were killed, entered the US via a K-1 fiancee visa. It has been reported that she had pledged her support for IS in a private Facebook message.
On Wednesday, Mr Comey dismissed those reports, saying Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik communicated with each other in "direct, private messages".
He said: "We have found no evidence of a posting on social media by either of them at that period of time or thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom."