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Inquiry and Analysis|1004| August 5, 2013 Jihadi Media Foundations On Facebook And Twitter By: Mansour Al-Hadj* MEMRI | MEMRI TV | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR | SOUTH ASIA STUDIES PROJECT

Note to media and government: For a full copy of this report, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.  Introduction Media foundations connected to jihadi groups and jihad-supporting organizations, which once released their productions – videos, statements, and more – over jihadi forums, have turned to social media websites, mainly Facebook and Twitter, because of these forums' inability to provide reliable means for communication, interaction, and publication due to constant and often lengthy disruption of their online presence. This report will discuss official and unofficial jihadi media foundations' presence on Facebook and Twitter, and will identify the foundations' accounts and provide background information regarding their affiliation and activities. Part II of this series, to be published in the near future, will focus on the Facebook and Twitter accounts of jihad-supporting clerics, preachers, and scholars who support jihad as well as prominent writers in jihadi forums. Part III will profile Facebook and Twitter accounts related to jihadi groups. Categories Of Jihadi Media Foundations The jihadi media foundations with Facebook and Twitter accounts can be divided into two main categories: official and unofficial. The official accounts represent the groups with which they are affiliated, while the unofficial ones, which might be linked to one or more groups, do not. However, whether official or unofficial, the media foundations are run by members of militant jihadi groups, members of non-militant pro-jihad groups, or by independent supporters of jihad who believe in the importance of the mission of jihad. Media Foundations Connected To Militant Jihadi Groups As mentioned, media foundations connected to militant jihadi groups have increased their presence on social media websites, especially after the jihadi forums began experiencing lengthy and repeated disruptions. Official and unofficial Facebook and Twitter accounts of media foundations related to Al-Qaeda-affiliate groups and others, such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Syria-based Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), have been actively using these social media sites for communication, interaction, and publication of their productions. Normally, jihadi groups announce the launch of their media wings' official accounts on social media websites; for example, AQIM and Ansar Al-Islam released official statements when they began using Twitter. Al-Andalus, the media wing of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the media office of the Iraq-based Ansar Al-Islam, also recently launched Twitter accounts, issuing statements that they did so. There are dozens of Facebook accounts that are unofficially connected to jihadi media foundations, including for Al-Furqan, the media wing of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), and for Al-Malahem, the media wing of AQAP, for which there is also at least one unofficial Twitter account. Both Twitter and Facebook are full of unofficial accounts bearing the names of jihadi media foundations. However, even though they are unofficial, they can still be linked to one or more groups. In fact, some accounts clearly state that they are unofficial, in order to avoid suspension by the social media as officially linked to designated terrorist organizations – for example, the Facebook page bearing the name of ISIS's media foundation Al-Furqan doesn't state that it is an official account despite its connection with the group. There are also a number of unofficial Facebook and Twitter accounts in the name of the AQAP media wing Al-Malahem, and some are linked to the group. Media Foundations Of Non-Militant Pro-Jihad Groups Also active on Facebook and Twitter are media foundations of groups known as non-militant pro-jihad groups, whose names often include the terms "Salafi-jihadi" or "Ansar Al-Sharia" (i.e. "Supporters of Sharia"). These media foundations produce and publish their own productions as well as content previously released by militant jihadi groups on their own social media accounts. Active accounts belonging to media foundations of non-militant pro-jihad groups include Al-Bayan, connected to Ansar Al-Sharia in Egypt; Al-Raya, connected to Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya; and Al-Hijratayn, connected to the Salafi-jihadi movement in Sudan. The official Facebook account of Al-Bayariq, the media foundation of Ansar Al-Sharia in Tunisia, has been suspended. Independent Media Foundations These media foundations are created and run by individuals who support jihad and believe in the importance of the role these foundations play, but who are not associated with any particular group. The main goal of these foundations is to republish jihadi content, thus making it available to a much wider audience. Independent media foundations are often created by members of jihadi forums who are skilled in media production as well as in social media. These members often post articles with instructions and tips for spreading jihadi content. Recently, a number of online jihadis launched a Twitter account called Al-Battar to post jihadi content from all groups. In their announcement, which was posted on Al-Fida', a leading jihadi forum, they described the account as a "jihadi media squad." Active independent media foundations that have accounts on Facebook and Twitter include the Gaza-based Ibn Taymiyya Center, Al-Ma'ali, Fursan Al-Balagh, Isnad Media, and Nukhbat Al-I'lam Al-Jihadi (Jihadi Media Elites). Click here to read the full report. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM).  For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.  * Mansour Al-Hadj is director of the Reform in the Arab and Muslim World Project at MEMRI. Please remember the environment before printing.