Facebook, Twitter are command and control networks for terrorists: UK intel head

US-based social media have become “command-and-control networks” for terrorists and criminals, the new head of Britain’s GCHQ said. US-based social media have become “command-and-control networks” for terrorists and criminals, and tech companies are in denial about their misuse, the new head of Britain’s electronic eavesdropping agency GCHQ said. Writing in Tuesday’s Financial Times, GCHQ chief Robert Hannigan said British intelligence agencies know that ISIS extremists use messaging services like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to reach their peers with ease. He notes in his piece, “Their ability to send 40,000 tweets a day during the advance on Mosul without triggering spam controls, illustrates their ease with new media.” Hannigan also wrote about how ‘Snowden-approved’ techniques of encrypting smartphones and mobiles had made it easier for ISIS terrorists and thus they are a much stronger challenge to security agencies than al-Qaeda ever was.