OFTEN HOLLOW PANIC
False alarm in London shows how fears can take hold
The ever-looming spectre of domestic and international terrorism continues to spark fear and loathing on social media and beyond — a sobering sign of the times that has predictably sprung from the past actions of extremist groups, analysts say.
“The purpose of terrorism is to intentionally sow fear in the public and thereby change the status quo,” said Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University who researches terrorism. “In that sense, terrorism is very effective. It does what it sets out to do — it creates terror.”
The knee-jerk reaction to reports of shots fired on London’s crowded Oxford Street yesterday set off a tsunami of false news reports and terrorism accusations on social media. After the story hit a fever pitch, British authorities took to Twitter to assuage fears that London — still reeling from a summer terrorist attack — was, in fact, safe.
“Officers working with colleagues from British Transport Police carried out an urgent search of the area,” the Metropolitan Police tweeted. “No causalities, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects were located by police.”
Just two days earlier, officials in New York City repeatedly tried to calm the public in the lead-up to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The yearly extravaganza, which went off without a hitch, came during a year of mass shootings and not even a month after a deadly truck attack in lower Manhattan.
A posting last year in an English-language magazine of the Islamic State group, which took credit for the Oct. 31 truck attack that killed eight people, mentioned the Thanksgiving parade as “an excellent target.” New York authorities repeatedly assuaged fears, saying there was no credible threat.
“We had a couple of tough months as a nation,” New York City police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “We won’t ever accept such acts of hate and cowardice as inevitable in our society.”
This messaging is a byproduct of the alternate reality that terrorist organizations have created with the help of a headline-hungry society. While attacks have happened, statistically they are no more likely than they were in past decades, according to James Forest, a security professor and terrorism expert at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
“The reality of terrorism is that they are lowprobability events. There is a perception that we are under siege, but that is not based in evidence,” he said. “For these groups, this perception is a tactical victory. They remain relevant in our public discussion.”
The new normal of terrorism-related hysteria allow organizations like the Islamic State, growing weaker by the day, to continue instilling fear, according to Abrahms. That alone, however, won’t get it any closer to its end goal — creating a caliphate, he added.
“If the goal of the organization is to instill terror, then ISIS has been furthering their goal,” Abrahms said. “However, if the goal is to gain international legitimacy, then it can actually be very counterproductive.”
The threat of terrorism will stay in the news heading into the holiday season.
Next week, Homeland Security officials are expected to meet twice to discuss terrorism-related threats. On Tuesday, they will “examine security threats facing mass transit systems.” Two days later, there will be a hearing examining “current threats to America including: Islamist terrorism, domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, aviation security and border security.”