Is ISIS winning on the information battlefield?
"Fanboys" of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were "inspired" on social media after Tuesday's terror attack in New York City that left eight dead and 13 wounded, including the attacker, a terrorism expert told CBSN.
Haroon Ullah, Broadcasting Board of Governors' chief strategy officer, said ISIS and people affiliated with ISIS use social media to find outside influence beyond any borders. That's why, despite images out of Raqqa of U.S.-backed armies defeating ISIS, many believe the group is actually winning, Ullah said.
"It's winning for exactly the reason that it's using technology," Ullah said. "It's able to make gains on the battlefield that means most to them -- which is the information battlefield."
Sayfullo Saipov, who came to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010, has been arrested and charged with two federal terrorism charges. He is accused of driving a truck onto a New York City bike path, killing eight people and injuring a dozen more as he plowed through the bike path. After colliding with a schoolbus, police say he exited his vehicle and yelled "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for God is great.
Saipov was shot by police shortly after and appeared in court Wednesday shackled and in a wheelchair. Federal prosecutors say he was "consumed by hate and a twisted ideology."
Investigators have said they found notes referencing ISIS around the truck. Saipov had 90 videos and thousands of images affiliated with ISIS on a phone they recovered at the scene, prosecutors said in the criminal complaint against Saipov.
According to the criminal complaint, Saipov believed the attack was a success and wanted to fly the ISIS flag in his hospital room.
Ullah said governments have a hard time counteracting with technology, mainly because government acts slower than information spreads online.
