Michael S. Smith II
Terrorism Analyst
Michael Smith specializes in the influence operations of Salafi-Jihadist groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic State. He is an International Security Program Fellow at New America, where his research focuses on terrorists’ exploitations of social media platforms to recruit and incite violence far beyond their primary areas of operation. The following is from testimony before the Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism of the Senate Judiciary Committee during an October 31, 2017, hearing on “Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online: Working with Tech to Find Solutions.” For three years, Islamic State has used popular social media and file-sharing sites to wage…
