Syria: Report shows how foreign fighters use social media

15 April 2014 Last updated at 22:56 Social media networks have been embraced enthusiastically by foreign fighters in Syria's conflict A report has cast unprecedented light on how foreign fighters engaged in the Syria conflict are using social media.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalism report says they are using social media to document their role in the conflict in real time.

The report reveals high numbers are getting information from unofficial "disseminators", individuals not affiliated to any militant group.

It identifies spiritual authorities who fighters look to for guidance.

"This is the most socially mediated conflict in history," Shiraz Maher, one of the report's authors, told BBC Newsnight, "they want to use it in order to inspire people to come out and join their cause."

Data from 114 individuals was analysed by the ICSR, comprising 121 unique accounts - 86 from Facebook and 35 from Twitter. The researchers mapped foreign fighters' social media connections, who they follow and who follow them.

Country of origin

Their analysis reveals the majority of the individuals come from the UK (25.4%), followed by France (14%), Germany (12.3%), Sweden (8.8%), Netherlands (7%), and Belgium (5.3%).

Continue reading the main story Jihadist group active in Iraq and SyriaFormed in April 2013 and grew out of al-Qaeda's affiliate organisation in IraqLeader is Abu Bakr al-BaghdadiEstimated number of fighters is 3,000 to 5,000Mostly active in northern and eastern provinces of SyriaEastern European countries (Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia) collectively comprised 6.1%, while non-European Westerners (Australians, Canadians, and US Americans) accounted for 7%.

It was not possible to determine the country of origin of 13.2 %.

Security chiefs in Whitehall believe the number of British men thought to have fought in Syria has now reached the upper end of the low hundreds.

So far this year, more than 30 people have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of terror offences, compared with 24 in the whole of 2013.

In terms of group affiliation, the ICSR analysis shows that 61.4% of foreign fighters in the sample were identified as members of rebel jihadist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), while 17.5% were thought to belong to the Al-Nusra Front, a rival group, linked to al-Qaeda that has become a key player in the conflict.

"The overwhelming majority within our database belong to Isis... they are very willing to take foreign fighters," Shiraz Maher says.

Some 29% of the fighters analysed could not be coded as belonging to any group, while the Free Syrian Army, Liwa al-Tawheed and Ahrar al Shamm comprised 2% of the total sample combined.

'New disseminators'

The academic analysis also reveals the official Twitter accounts of jihadist groups are less important as sources of information for foreign fighters in Syria, than so-called "disseminator accounts" run by sympathetic individuals who lend moral and political support to those involved in the conflict.

Continue reading the main story Aims to establish Islamist state in SyriaLeader: Abu Mohammad al-Julani5,000 official members (approx.), supported by thousands of othersApparently has members inside government and militaryBig guerrilla attacks on rural government targets; lower level urban attacksUses car bombings, suicide attacks, targets media facilities and personalitiesPolicy of silenceThese accounts spread real-time information from the battlefield, publish links to new videos and official statements, and share photographs of battles, equipment and meetings.

Examining the 32 most popular accounts followed on Twitter by foreign fighters in the dataset, 11 of those are "disseminator" accounts, with only one being the official account of a fighting group.

Of the 12 most popular disseminators, six are among the most mentioned and re-tweeted accounts by foreign fighters.

New spiritual authorities

The ICSR discovered three of the top 10 most liked Facebook pages by foreign fighters in their sample belong to religious figures, suggesting there is an emerging set of new clerical authorities who foreign fighters in Syria consider important and influential sources of religious and political motivation and support.

These include two preachers who both speak English and regularly communicate with Western Muslim audiences through social media platforms.

Ahmad Musa Jibril, a Palestinian-American cleric who is in his early 40s, is followed on Twitter by 60% of foreign fighters, the academics say.

The ICSR report says he does not openly incite his followers to violence nor does he explicitly encourage them to join the Syrian jihad. Instead, he adopts the role of a cheerleader, supporting the principles of armed opposition to Assad.

Ifthekar Jaman was killed fighting in Syria shortly after speaking to BBC Newsnight

Musa Cerantonio, a 29-year-old Australian convert to Islam who frequently appears on satellite television has become an outspoken supporter of Isis, because he says it aims to create a regional Islamic state or caliphate. He is followed on Twitter by 23% of foreign fighters in the sample.

The report authors stress that these findings should not suggest that either individual is a member of Isis or the al-Nusrah Front, nor that it should be taken as indicating that they are involved in facilitating the recruitment of foreign fighters.

A pointed example of Mr Jibril's interaction with a foreign fighter came after the death in December last year of Ifthekar Jaman, a British man who told BBC Newsnight he was "doing his duty" by fighting for a group linked to al-Qaeda in Syria.

Within hours of Ifthekar's death Ahmad Musa Jibril sent a message of condolence via direct message on Twitter to Ifthekar's brother, which was then published publically on Ifthekar's brother's timeline.

Mr Jibril did not respond to BBC Newsnight's invitation for an interview. Mr Cerantonio declined to give an interview. He said although he supports Isis he has also been critical of the group.

The Newsnight report from Tuesday 15 April 2014 is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and Newsnight website.

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China census shows population aging rapidly

BEIJING — China's population is aging rapidly, the government said Thursday, though its leaders are refusing to relax strict family planning controls that are part of the cause.

The results of a national census conducted late last year show the proportion of elderly people in the country of 1.34 billion jumped, while that of young people plunged sharply.

The census results, announced Thursday, also show that half the population now lives in cities.

The census adds data to the world-changing shifts under way in China in the past decade, as economic reforms raise living standards and pull more people off farms into the cities while families get smaller and the population ages.

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China's rapid aging has fueled worries over how long the country will be able to sustain its high economic growth, as fewer young people are available to work in factories and build the roads that transformed it into the world's second biggest economy after the United States.

The census results show that people aged 60 and above comprise 13.3 percent of the population, up nearly 3 percentage points from 2000.

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Young people aged 14 and below accounted for 16.6 percent, down 6.3 percentage points from a decade ago.

Ma Jiantang, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters that while the population is aging nationwide, the trend is more pronounced in coastal and more developed areas where the population is large and land is relatively scarce.

The results also showed that 49.7 percent of the population now lives in cities, up from about 36 percent 10 years ago.

'Alarmingly low' fertility rate
The total population figure of 1.34 billion was released earlier this year. It increased by 73.9 million — equal to the population of Turkey, or California, Texas and Ohio combined — over the 10 years, a slower rate than in previous decades. The reduced growth reflects the results of the country's one-child policy, which limits most urban couples to one child and rural families to two.

Wang Feng, a population expert and director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing, said the census results confirmed that China's population has turned a corner, with massive migration flows and a fertility rate of no more than 1.5 children per couple.

"That is alarmingly low for a large country like China," Wang said.

He said the numbers showed that China has added about 40 million people aged 60 or older in the past decade.

"We're looking at a province in China or a large country in the world and that's how many elderly people have been added," Wang said. "This is only the beginning of an accelerating process, given that fertility is so low right now, population aging will only get more serious."

There has been growing speculation among Chinese media, experts and ordinary people about whether the government will soon relax the one-child policy — introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb surging population growth — and allow more people to have two children.

But leaders have expressed a desire to maintain the status quo. President Hu Jintao told a meeting of top Communist Party leaders convened Tuesday to discuss population issues that China will keep its strict family planning policy to keep the birth rate low.

Asked about possible changes to the policy, statistics bureau commissioner Ma reiterated Hu's position.

China credits its family planning limits with preventing 400 million additional births and helping break a traditional preference for large families that had perpetuated poverty.

But there are serious concerns about the policy's side effects, such as selective abortions of girls and a rapidly aging population.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Hu briefly touched on concerns about population structure and the growing number of older people at the meeting Tuesday, saying that social security and services for the elderly should be improved. He also called on officials to formulate strategies to cope with more retirees.

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