Homegrown violent extremism
Introduction
The threat of terrorism is ever-evolving and becoming complex, with homegrown threats becoming more prevalent than external threats. Today, the threat of lone shooters portrays extremist groups’ lethality and how effective they are in causing death and destruction because they are more challenging to detect and track. Today, Americans are being radicalized and mobilized from their smartphones and computers by tech-savvy terrorists who continue to leverage technology to maintain their jihad. Extreme far-right and left groups are also threatening the harmony of Western society. However, various efforts have been adopted to tackle these threats by governments, but their effectiveness is still debatable. In this paper, I assess how the internet and social media have affected homegrown extremism and how governments respond to the threats to keep North America safe.
The impact of the internet and social media has had on homegrown extremism in North America.
The internet has changed the way we communicate, connect, and it has been a driving force towards a better life, new ideas in the modern world. However, violent extremist movements have benefited immensely from the revolutionary nature of the internet and social media. Today social media and the internet are seen as viable platforms to spread hate messages, sow fear, and relay extremist propaganda messages to a global audience. The internet and social media technologies are also used for recruiting and mobilization efforts to carry out violent extremist attacks against innocent civilians. The Orlando nightclub shootings where 49 people died is an example of how the lone gunman was influenced by ISIS propaganda messages and massacred innocent civilians.
In fact, survivors later moved to court to sue Google, Facebook, and Twitter for aiding terror networks to spread propaganda and radicalization messages that inspired the attacks. The lone gunman pledged allegiance to the Islamic State even as he engaged his hostages, and he also logged in to Facebook to track what people said about his extremist. The fact of the matter is that the violent domestic threats are increasing because, between 2005 and 2016, 91.7% of social media consumers in North America accessed extremist content regularly in terms of extremist videos and texts.
The far-right movements are also a growing threat if the El Paso deadly lone gunman attacks are anything to go by. It is alleged that 19 minutes before the attacks, the shooter posted a hate-filled manifesto online, which specifically targeted the immigrants. In the online text, posted on an internet platform and social media, the shooter inspired racial tensions and even warned that White Americans were being displaced by people of color from their country. This created a platform where like-minded individuals would share ideas on “liberate America” from the invaders and thus a recruiting platform for the far-right nationalists.
This shows that social media platforms are playing a more significant role in the dissemination and recruitment of violent extremist movements. There is increasing evidence that lone actors are very active on social media, with 68.12% of lone actors relying on social media for radicalization and mobilization between 2005 and 2016, with nearly 67% of the attackers choosing Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as preferable platforms for their messages and recruitment drives. The fact is that many violent extremist groups have taken advantage of the internet and social media than imagined, and this means they are reaching more people for radicalization. This is a dangerous pattern that should be stopped to keep society safe. Terror groups, Neo-Nazi movements, ANTIFA, and White supremacy movements should find it hard to use social media in the future if the war against homegrown threats is to be won.
An analysis of current efforts to counter homegrown violent extremists in North America
One of the efforts that have been adopted in CVE is the Global Internet Forum Counterterrorism program that specifically targets the internet and social media platforms in countering radicalization efforts. The GIFCT is a well-funded program that uses the latest technology to identify and countering online threats and propaganda messages to disable the ability of terror groups and extremist groups in America to radicalize society. This makes it possible to flag off vulnerable individuals within communities, store their records within a national database, and thus monitor their activities. The collaboration between law enforcement and the private sector players is important as social media providers and internet companies can play a significant role in achieving resilience through the use of intervention efforts in local communities. The Department of Homeland security has enhanced awareness efforts to urge social media providers to help the government in protecting the internet space against violent extremist movements and their hate messages by blocking them and censoring the spread of the propaganda messages.
Moreover, efforts have been ramped up by the Department of Justice and the DHS to educate the community and partner with local communities to counter radicalization and violence through education forums. These programs make it possible for the community to detect suspicious activities in their neighborhoods and to be aware of lone individuals and what type of content they post on social media. Such programs aim to empower the community to be the first line of defense and to share information with law enforcement officials in a timely and seamless manner, making it more difficult for extreme violent groups to radicalize and mobilize.
My recommendation is that future programs should be individual based and specifically target the youth. Youth are the most vulnerable groups to be radicalized and easily mobilized to carry out violent extremist groups’ agendas. Thus a viable strategy would be to engage youth across multiple platforms to be on the forefront against radicalization or mobilization efforts. Engaging youths via social media and through community programs allow the government to win their collaboration in countering violent extremism. Youth should be engaged in more positive activities such as business training, sports, talent development, positive volunteering, and other programs that would keep the youth busy instead of idle. This makes it difficult for this vulnerable group to counter the radicalization and mobilization efforts.
Conclusion
Although violent extremism has been on a dangerous growth trajectory, the law enforcement agencies have done a commendable job to counter the threat. However, it has not been easy as it is still difficult to detect lone attackers before they strike because they tend to change tact often. Social media and online platforms are the new avenues the extremist groups are using to disseminate propaganda messages and recruit and mobilize. Thus, counter efforts must detect and eliminate the threats from social media activities. Counter violence extremist movements should not just focus on using technology and engaging the community but also focusing on the youth who are the primary targets for these groups. The youth are susceptible due to their access to social media and because they are easier to convince to align to skewed ideologies. Positively engaging them through more constructive programs plays an important role in making it difficult for violent extremist groups to recruit and mobilize the youth since they are more vulnerable.