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Justice Department Threatens to Prosecute Social Media Supporters of ISIS

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The Justice Department has warned that individuals who help the terrorist group ISIS spread its message on social media could face prosecution under anti-terror laws. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin made the statement at a cybersecurity conference in Washington, drawing a line between support for a terrorist group and protected free speech. The announcement raises questions about where the government would draw the line between speech and action, particularly in the age of social media where lines can be blurred.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Justice Department has stated that it could prosecute individuals who assist ISIS with online media under the law against providing material support to a terrorist organization.
  • Assistant Attorney General John Carlin has said he would consider criminal charges against those who proliferate ISIS social media, even if it's just technical expertise.
  • The use of material support laws to prosecute speech linked to terrorism is on controversial grounds, with some experts arguing that it could infringe upon protected free speech.
  • The case of Tarek Mehanna, who translated jihadist tracts and videos into English to encourage others to join the terror group, highlights the difficulty of determining what constitutes support for a terrorist organization.
  • Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have become a challenge for national security officials trying to prevent terrorist attacks, as they provide a "free form of communication" that can be used to plot and plan.
  • U.S. counterterrorism officials have noted that ISIS has been careful to use social media in a way that avoids detection by American surveillance agencies, including the NSA.

Statistics:

  • 171/2 years in prison: The sentence handed down to Tarek Mehanna for his role in providing material support to al Qaeda.
  • 1.3 billion users: The number of users on social media platforms like Yahoo, asked by Alex Stamos, the chief information security officer for Yahoo, as a counterpoint to NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers' advocacy for a "backdoor" to spy on encrypted communications.
  • Billions of dollars: The estimated cost of deploying a command and control system that would be battle-ready, compared to ISIS' use of common Internet technologies.
  • $1 million in seed money: The funding provided by the U.S. government to the tech firm that provided the NSA with access to encrypted messages.

Sources:

  • "Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 2008"
  • "The New Yorker"
  • "The Daily Beast"
  • "The Intercept"

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