Essay --

W hile social media has played an integral role in many prominent international events, there is a clear drawback to the technology, which the world witnessed in the horrific events in the recent brutal terrorist attack in Kenya. The shooting at the Westgate Premier Shopping Mall in Nairobi, which began Sept. 21 and lasted until Sept. 24 and resulted in 72 deaths, appears to be a highly sophisticated undertaking, and social media was a significant component with Al-Shabaab, a Somali-based Islamist group, claiming responsibility for the attack in Kenya. As the attack began, and during the three days in which the gunmen held hostages in the shopping mall, there were regular Twitter dispatches from the terrorists. What’s more, the terrorists exploited Twitter in an attempt to explain the rationale for the attacks. In fact, Al-Shabaab has had a series of Twitter accounts over the years and each of them has been suspended under a clause in the terms of service that bars direct threats of violence. Still, the terrorist group simply – as is quite easily done – creates new Twitter accoun...