Without the use of controversial drones, the U.S. Department of State has found a way to troll terrorists.
Their new-found method: Twitter. Or at least, one of their many accounts.
Nowadays, the internet is flooded with various accounts that troll either actors, authors, musicians, and journalists. Now, thankfully, you can add terrorists to that line-up. A special verified account ran by the DOS looks to target suspicious accounts or activity that could incite terrorist activities.
According to Mother Jones:
The Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications was established in 2010 to coordinate messaging to target violent extremism on the internet, especially that of Al Qaeda and affiliates. CSCC (an interagency center that is housed at State) initially focused on non-English online forums where the State Department saw jihadists attempting to recruit and raise money (message boards, comments on Al Jazeera Talk, etc.) Late last year, CSCC made a move into English-language websites, with the small team of analysts and microbloggers expanding their fight on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and elsewhere, under the banner of the US State Department.
Their slogan is “Think Again, Turn Away,” and they are anything but timid. After all, this is for the safety of our country. With a simple browse of their timeline, you can see the influence that they have on not only viewers, but also on those that they are trying to deter. It raises awareness.
The difference between this type of trolling and the trolling you may find on your favorite website is that they have the fire power and are willing to do what’s necessary to protect what’s right.
-Jamaal Fisher (@jamaalfisher)
.@Doula_news2 #alqaeda exploits children when it cannot convince adults of its agenda #thinkagainturnaway
— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS) March 4, 2014