Wanted: A War on Terrorist Media…

…and to that we’ll add their friends in major media (tv, print, online) who run cover for Islamists and give Islamic terrorists an open forum.

Mark Dubowitz | The Journal of International Security Affairs

The Long War against radical Islam is a war of ideas as much as a war of arms. Yet, for much of the past decade, the incitement and violent propaganda emanating from satellite television stations, radio outlets, and Internet platforms operated by violent Islamist extremists has too often gone unnoticed and unanswered.

Today, such neglect is no longer an option. Media technologies—satellite television, radio, and the Internet—have become operational weapons used by radicals to plan, recruit, train, fundraise and incite. Free speech protections may protect the hateful content of their messages, but by using media as direct operational weapons, these terrorist groups are crossing all free speech red lines.

To counter their influence, policymakers and counterterrorism officials need to treat these media outlets as indistinguishable from the terrorist organizations that use them—by banning, jamming and shutting down the media outlets where possible, and by countering their messaging with alternatives.

Terrorist media platforms increasingly are a critical part of the battlefield on which the Long War against violent Islamist extremism is being fought. If they hope to persevere, the U.S. and its allies will need to take aggressive and direct action against these media properties.

A great deal can be done.

Continue reading Wanted: A War on Terrorist Media, good background on Hamas, Hizbollah and al Qaeda’s booming propaganda machines, and Mr. Dubowitz’s recommendations on what can be done.

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