Contemplating the Future of Social Media, Dark Networks, and Counterinsurgency

Abstract

The spectacular growth in social media over the last decade,led by Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and their potential usefulness have not been lost on insurgents and others using what we call dark networks.3 Over the last few years, such groups have increasingly turned to social media to communicate with and motivate their followers and supporters. For example, the use of social media by Egyptian insurgents during the Arab Spring is well documented,4 and other dark networks, such as the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have attempted to exploit their functionality as well. At the same time, authorities have been seeking ways to capture the information that dark networks share through social media. To date their e orts have yielded minimal returns, but there is good reason to believe that this could change in the future.