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Should platforms like YouTube and Twitter really have the power to censor what content we can or cannot see? At least in America, the suppression of disturbing or offensive content, if it does not incite violence, is a direct violation of our principles of free speech. Especially in this instance, it seems deeply inappropriate to respond to authoritarianism with authoritarian action.

Others have argued that the video shouldn’t be shared because that’s what ISIS wants.

Does it matter what ISIS wants?

Part of ISIS’s aim is presumably to terrorise us remotely, but most people are just getting angry.

intentionality does not factor into censorship decisions anyway. 

Twitter is not television. No one is being forced to view the footage.

It’s completely understandable that family members don’t want footage of a loved one’s death to spread, but it’s not clear that that’s their decision to make.

It’s really not Twitter’s decision either—unless we want to grant tech giants the power to control public knowledge and discourse, a dangerous precedent indeed.

Its democratic power derives from the fact that it’s unedited; for better or for worse,

Sheikh’s case and several other recent terrorism prosecutions shed light on the growing importance of social media in the battles unfolding in Syria and Iraq -- both as a recruiting tool for Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front, and as a means for the FBI to pre-emptively nab the would-be jihadis.

raises questions about the FBI’s conduct in attempting to head off terrorist recruits and whether they incited them to actions they wouldn’t have otherwise taken.

using fake social media identities to engage them

catfishing” by luring him into a personal relationship with a phony online persona.

During the investigation, the FBI published a webpage that purported to recruit individuals to travel to Syria and join Jabhat al-Nusra (

posed as a Syrian nurse and "used a Facebook page which promoted the ideology of Islamic extremism" to contact the suspect,

been able to expand their reach far beyond the traditional jihadi recruitment pool to a much wider audience -- including English-speaking Western nationals."

FBI at times goes too far to reel in American Muslims, most of them young, who are sympathetic to the Islamic extremist cause.

her client is “a lonely, mentally ill young man with a tremendous desire to be liked,” which made him susceptible to a paid FBI informant’s online encouragement.

Suspects began posting on Facebook or other social media expressing support for or seeking contact with one of the Islamic groups fighting in Iraq and Syria and were then engaged by informants or undercover FBI agents.

social media counterterrorism operations,

'Don't go there in any way, don't go there in thought or expression, don't even toy with the idea of becoming foreign fighters.'"

eventually agreed to join Al-Nusra, purchased a plane ticket to Beirut and prepared for his journey to jihad

informant, however, suggested that Sheikh instead join the Al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate t

provided Sheikh with contact information for a supposed Al-Nusra agent.

could help get him inside

face up to 15 years in prison and fines of $250,000 if they are convicted

sending a message to potential terrorist recruits is indeed important.

defense attorneys in all four cases may argue that the FBI actions amounted to entrapment -- the act of tricking someone into committing a crime so that they can be arrested

making examples of individuals

sought to make contact with al Qaeda officials on Facebook and other social media, but instead drew the attention of an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as a recruiter for the terrorist group.

"ISIS recruits are more likely to reach out in the online universe seeking advice on how to reach the land of jihad than to consult the guidance of a traditional cleric or local community leader

that universe and creating honeypots to draw in and capture potential ISIS recruits, they can help sow doubts in the minds of would-be jihadists in the overall reliability of the Internet as a medium for recruit

Justice Department plans to review federal law enforcement practices on creating fake Facebook pages in light of an incident,