News

Driving Hezbollah Off Social Media

Campaign Aims To Get Group off YouTube and Twitter

By Nathan Guttman

(Page 2 of 3)

Washington — Al-Manar was added in 2006 to a Treasury Department blacklist of Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity following the determination that it is owned and controlled by Hezbollah.

“When they have the ability to access means of communication, it makes it easier for them to recruit,” said Avi Jorisch, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and a former Treasury Department adviser on terror.

Indeed, the U.S. government made clear its intention to go after those providing services to Hezbollah’s TV station in a 2006 case against two satellite TV operators who were paid by Al-Manar in return for relaying its broadcasts in the United States. The chief operator, Javed Iqbal from Staten Island, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five and half years in prison. His partner, Saleh Elahwal from New Jersey, was convicted and sentenced to 17 months in prison.

Legally, however, the case of hosting Hezbollah and Al-Manar on social media websites is more complicated. Providing web hosting service for the group’s website or relaying its broadcasts to American viewers involves the providers in question in financial transactions with Hezbollah, which is explicitly forbidden by law. But starting a Facebook page or opening a Twitter account or a YouTube channel is completely free. The providers do not receive, directly or indirectly, any funds, goods or services from a designated terror group. Like many other websites, social media platforms also require users to check a box stating that they agree to the company’s terms of use, which includes the user’s agreement to abide by the laws of the United States.

Allowing Hezbollah and its affiliates to join these networks “may not necessarily break the letter of the law,” Jorisch said, “but it breaks the spirit of the law.”

That is enough for most companies. Days after MEMRI issued its report on Hezbollah’s use of American social media platforms, many of them took action. Facebook deleted the group’s pages, Apple removed applications from iTunes and Google did the same with Hezbollah’s Android application.

“So far, it has been very successful,” Stalinsky said, touting his report’s impact. But he noted that Twitter and YouTube have yet to join in banning Hezbollah and Al-Manar from their sites. “The report brought a lot of attention to this issue, and hopefully it will also get Twitter to take action,” he said.