4 Threat Matrix: A new social media app: Cyberterrorism

4 Threat Matrix: A new social media app: Cyberterrorism (EC)

How would the United States of America respond to a psychological attack by a terrorist group? I have personally seen psychological attempts on Facebook by radical individuals and groups revolving around politics and popular issues, but never by ‘terrorist’ organizations. The threats of the Muslim revenge attacks northeastern Indian people received was unlike any threat they’ve seen before, and without knowing any better, treated it as a completely legitimate threat without hesitation and fled. They viewed the altered photos and also took them as real photos, not having anything to compare them to for legitimacy (if there was a possibility to do so). One thing the article did not mention was the northeastern Indians’ technology proficiency. Depending on the level of technology literacy they had, could have changed the events that occurred. If northeastern India was using technology as we do in the US, they may have been able to determine that the claims were false, ignoring internal cultural differences.

Our communication abilities within the US are faster than ever and we receive information that is not always correct, and because of that, we check claims for accuracy and legitimacy. Websites are dedicated to fact-checking claims, and people are skeptical to a majority of information providers. Unlike India (as the article suggests), we are able to respond quicker to social media and information sources. Much difference is made between receiving information blindly and unable to respond, and being able to communicate with the sender. However, this could change if a threatening element was involved. It may have been the reflexive response to a threat that led the migration of 30,000 northeastern Indians, but such reflex, I do not believe, would affect the US. Based on opinion, it seems as if Americans are much more reluctant to change than other nationalities. Between that fact and our capability to cross reference information and communicate with information providers, the threat would diminish quickly if it were invalid.

Overall, there is no way in telling if this response in India to a psychological terrorist attack would be similar to the events elsewhere in the world. It may be a reality that we do see this attempt as technology increases at an exponential rate and terrorist’s messages reach further. Only time will tell.