Jihadist: Let's invade YouTube

2008-12-04 10:16

Washington - A member of an Islamic jihadist forum has urged supporters to wage a "YouTube Invasion" by uploading propaganda videos to the popular video-sharing website.

The Site Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring service, reported late Tuesday that the call was made last week by a member of al-Faloja, a password-protected jihadist forum, using the name Omar Abdul Hakim.

Noting that the Google-owned website was watched by millions and even used by US president-elect Barack Obama, Hakim said jihadists should use YouTube "to shame the Crusaders by publishing clips of videos showing their losses".

"The members of YouTube number in the thousands of millions, and most of them are the filthiest and most dangerous people on earth," Hakim wrote.

"Brothers, let us go to work and invade. I ask you, by Allah, as soon as you read this subject, to start recording on YouTube, and to start cutting and uploading and posting clips on the jihadist, Islamic, and general forums."

The forum member included step-by-step instructions on how to post videos on YouTube and what software to use to cut clips into 10-minute sequences.

Islamic militant groups have used the internet for some time as a propaganda window and for communications and a draft US Army intelligence report warned recently of the dangers of the micro-blogging service Twitter as a potential terrorist tool.

In its "community guidelines", YouTube says it seeks to "encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view", but it prohibits videos featuring graphic violence or hate speech.

- AFP