- 20th May 2015, Sheikh Ali Dhere the Al Shabaab spokesman sends radio warning to Christians living in Northern Kenya
- May 9 2015, Somali based Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen uploads a propaganda video in which a fighter threatens to attack parts of East Africa.
- September 2013, Al Shabaab uses a twitter accounted believed to be affiliated to Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen to justify the Westgate Attack and do a “live-tweeting” of the massacre.
Al Shabaab is increasingly using the internet to shape media channels which in turn communicates the same propaganda in their bulletins to their advantage.
Internet is a powerful tool for terrorists. Through this platform they have been able to lure thousands of youth into joining the outfit and the government need to fast counter-measure this model the militant group is using with equal measure.
How Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen is Using Media to Spread Propaganda
Jihadists have figured out how social media makes greater impact, giving them relevance even when they are going down.
Millions of youth use social media every hour to interact thus the insurgents have taken the advantage of these masses to spread their online message of radicalization.
By use of online resource, Jihadists upload teachings to lure the youth from all around the world to join their course.
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen have their trend of releasing videos to cause anxiety, panic and distress to East Africa citizens and in return, recruit so called Shabaab and jihadi brides fighters through use of false ideologies.
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has become world’s deadliest terror group through disseminating videos of Americans beheading on twitter and you tube.
Responding to online Al Shabaab Propaganda
Kenyan media is idolizing Al Shabaab propaganda as news. Some of their unverified news end up dis-informing their masses.
Cyber Intelligence Experts hint that shutting down individual accounts is a temporary blow in war against Al Shabaab.
A complete stop on the terrorist webmaster and creating Al Shabaab phony terrorist website could help in spreading disinformation to Kenyans.
Great ramifications of militia propaganda has seen the fall of Iraq and Syria into the hands of ISIS, a case that could soon befall Kenya if the Government fails to take charge of information disseminated by the media and Al Shabaab media channels and curb propaganda head-on.
