Using Social Media for Global Security

Introduction

We wrote this book because the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) once ruined an Irish tourist's vacation because of a tweet. In 2012, before embarking on a vacation to the U.S., Leigh Van Bryan excitedly tweeted that he was going to “destroy America.” When he landed in the US, the DHS detained him in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours. With the best of intentions, the DHS confronted him with his tweet, not realizing that “destroy America” was not a threat but slang indicating he was going to have fun on his vacation. Seemingly, the DHS was using a fairly rudimentary method of social media monitoring to recognize threats without understanding the nuances of social media use and data analysis, leading to a misguided arrest and a waste of investigative resources. The DHS also apparently did not realize that terrorists are not very likely to tweet their operational plans right before they attack.

This and other similar episodes illustrate the knowledge gap in government and security circles regarding social media data analysis and technology use. Although there are many exceptions, too many well-intentioned security professionals use social media ineffectively and irresponsibly. Misguided use of social media wastes time and money, erodes people's civil liberties and privacy, and jeopardizes security.

We have also noticed that some people tasked with providing or analyzing security either think social media is the greatest thing ever created ...