Terrorists turn to Second Life
The Australian has run a story on the alleged use of Second Life in training real-world terrorists. It cites reports of a recent “terror campaign” involving helicopters being flown into a Nissan building, and armed attacks taking place in an Apparel clothing and Reebok store.
These are not the first cases of organized violence occurring in Second Life. Earlier this year we saw Chinese gamers rioting at the sight of an unwelcomed Japanese flag, and political riots following the French Election. Although these events caused a real ruckus online, it more likely reflects the passion and fears of gamers who are too scared to hurl a brick through a window in real life.
But with terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah being held down by increased surveillance and information-gathering, it’s suspected that they’ve turned towards building online military camps. Such camps could provide the opportunity to rehearse terror operations on realistic targets.
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the US and Australia are so concerned they have established their own games in a bid to gain the same experiences as the virtual terrorists.
I suspect the anti-terrorism agencies are more scared about extremists spreading propaganda-laden messages to a large audience. We already know that plenty of Muslims practice their faith in SL, along with other religions. The potential for religious fanaticism is compounded in an online environment, where people’s emotions and ideas can run wild.
Their fears for the real world ramifications may be justified, but I still struggle to see how much of a learning tool Second Life could be for terrorists. You strap a bomb to your chest, you blow it up in a crowded area - planning such an operation at most requires a pen and paper.
IceCube