Twitter boycotts ISIL after James Foley's execution as #ISISMediaBlackout trends

As the video of American journalist James Foley being executed went viral, social media users called for restraint, urging everyone to stop sharing the grisly video and images of his beheading. The hashtag #ISISMediaBlackout trended on Twitter as users decided to boycott ISIL, which has relied heavily on social media to push its propaganda. As the hashtag trended, Twitter suspended several accounts for violating their sharing policy. Twitter’s official policy reads: “Twitter will remove imagery of deceased individuals in certain circumstances. Immediate family members and other authorized individuals may request the removal of images or video of deceased individuals, from when critical injury occurs to the moments before or after death, by sending an e-mail to privacy@twitter.com. When reviewing such media removal requests, Twitter considers public interest factors such as the newsworthiness of the content and may not be able to honor every request.” [caption id=“attachment_1672205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] James Foley in an 2011 interview with Associated Press. AP[/caption] The media blackout gained momentum and also sparked a debate on how these issues should be reported. Several users also tweeted to news websites asking them to take the video and still off their websites. The video released on websites Tuesday appears to show the increasing sophistication of the Islamic State group’s media unit and begins with scenes of Obama explaining his decision to order airstrikes. It then cuts to a balding man in an orange jumpsuit kneeling in the desert, next to a black-clad militant with a knife to his throat. Foley’s name appears in both English and Arabic graphics on screen. After the captive speaks, the masked man is shown apparently beginning to cut at his neck; the video fades to black before the beheading is completed. The next shot appears to show the captive lying dead on the ground, his head on his body. The video appears to have been shot in an arid area; there is no vegetation to be seen and the horizon is in the distance where the sand meets the gray-blue sky. At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be the next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013; he had freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.