Twitter suspended the account of the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda linked militant group Al-Shabaab, days after the group used the site to declare death threats against the two Kenyan Government employees taken as hostages somewhere on the Kenya-Somalia border. The group posted a video of the two hostages, saying that they will be killed unless the Kenyan Government fulfill’s their demands, the first and foremost being the release of all Muslims being held in Kenya on ‘terrorism related charges.’ “The Kenyan Government has three weeks, starting midnight 24/01/2013 to respond to the demands of HSM if the prisoners are to remain alive,” the group said. HSM Press is the handler of Al-Shabaab on Twitter. The site’s Terms of Service clearly state that users cannot ‘publish or post direct, specific threats of violence against others.’
Al-Shabaab uses Twitter as a platform to gloat about their enemy kills and to claim them, and to give it’s opinion on the events and activities happening in Somalia and parts of Africa. A few weeks back, the group had announced on the site that it will kill a French hostage, Denis Allex soon, and then posted a statement declaring his death right after a failed rescue operation by the French army.
The group’s main objective is to spread and establish it’s ideals regarding Sharia Law (Islamic Law) across Somalia.
Interestingly enough, Al-Shabaab is not the first militant group to use Twitter as a social platform. The Taliban have also used the site to boast about their enemy kills, announcing their agendas or advertising it’s own views.