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Beware of social media. Be careful when communicating online. That’s part of the warning the FBI has issued to the American military which fears ISIS could inspire or order attacks on the U.S military:
The FBI on Sunday issued the strongest warning to date about possible attacks by the ISIS terrorist group against the U.S. military inside the homeland, officials tell ABC News.
In a joint intelligence bulletin issued overnight by the FBI with the Department of Homeland Security, officials strongly urged those who serve in uniform to scrub their social media accounts of anything that might bring unwanted attention from “violent extremists” or would help the extremists learn individual service members’ identities.
“The FBI and DHS recommend that current and former members of the military review their online social media accounts for any information that might serve to attract the attention of ISIL [ISIS] and its supporters,” the federal bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies said, advising that troops “routinely exercise operational security in their interactions online.”
Officials said they fear copycat attacks based on what happened in Canada last month, when two uniformed Canadian soldiers were killed in two separate incidents by young men who claimed they were ISIS followers.[ABC News]
This is a real danger. The whole history of ISIS is of lowering the bar on taboos when it comes to brutality. Terrorist groups also do dry runs and test public sentiment and official response. Did ISIS lose by the attacks in Canada or strike more fear and be perceived as threatening, powerful player? Quick perception sometimes trumps more considered, deeper analysis. And many — military and non-military — are reckless in what they reveal on social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTBP177snBUTwin Design / Shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.