PHILLIPS: What would we do without it? The funny, the zany, the outrageous videos on YouTube, but there is a darker, sinister side that you probably don't know about: radical Islamic groups apparently using YouTube to recruit young terrorists. CNN's Nic Robertson has this alarming story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is as simple and scary as this: YouTube videos as a connection between young men and gun-toting radicals.
BEN VENZKE, CEO, INTELCENTER: YouTube is sort of -- could be that first hit for some people simply because of the mere scale and size of it. But it's going to be just that initial hit, and then they're going to move on into deeper levels.
ROBERTSON: Pakistani police say it's exactly what happened in the case of five Americans arrested there. Police say the men, aged from 18 to 25, were on their way to terror training camps.
But why would an average youngster even look at a radical video?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY CENTER ON LAW & SECURITY: A friend might encourage the kid to look at a YouTube video. He visits the site. He sees the video is well produced; it's compelling. He sees there are lots of comments on the site, all of them in English, and soon he starts commenting, as well.
ROBERTSON: After that, it's a very slippery slope, say terror experts. Extremists are watching online chats, looking for potential new recruits.
VENZKE: It sort of provides a filtering opportunity for them. They are able to sort of push out their message, see who responds to it.
ROBERTSON: It's getting the conversation and the videos together that's making the difference. According to CIA veteran Marc Sageman, no one ever got radicalized watching videos alone.
MARC SAGEMAN, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: YouTube, the various videos that are posted, are very important in terms of seeing them. But then it's really discussing their significance with your friends that, in a sense, drives the point home as opposed to just watching them.
ROBERTSON (on camera): What's making YouTube such a powerful tool for the Internet radicalizers is the built-in social networking media. Look at this: Revolution Muslim, an American group, 296 subscribers. Look at those subscribers here.
We'll choose one of them, Lone Wolf. Go into his account. He's posting his own videos supporting al Qaeda here. Go down. We see his comments. Here he's supporting the Ft. Hood shooter.
And we go down even further, and this is what worries the terror experts the most: the conversations he's having with the other jihadists out there. This networking that's going on.
STEVEN SIMON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL OFFICIAL: Something, you know, very appealing for a kid to do, who's looking at his menu of options when he's -- when he's seeking to rebel, when he's looking for that path, out of his, you know, self-conceived terrible situation and, boom, you know, there it is.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And online peer pressure works like anywhere else. Only here, peers can be anyone, anyplace in the world. New friends, a big appeal for alienated, isolated youngsters.
VENZKE: Suddenly they're not alone. They're going to do something that 20 other people, 100 other people have, yes, this is good, this is important. And it can be that pivotal point that pushes them over the line.
ROBERTSON (on camera): We contacted YouTube, and a spokesman told us they have 20 hours of video uploaded every minute, every day and more chats going on than they can monitor. They say the site bans incitement of specific serious acts of violence, but they can't stop the postings before they happen. They rely on users to police the site and flag offending material.
(voice-over) At homeland security, they don't have any simple answers either.
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think that's fair to say: that the social media is having an impact. It is an illustration of how this is a changing environment.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Can I ask you, how you stop this sort of social chatter that becomes radicalized, that is used for radicalization? How do you sort of single that out?
NAPOLITANO: I don't have a magic bullet for that, and I don't know that anybody does. This is the dark side of the Internet and social media. And I don't know, sitting here today, that anyone has a silver bullet for it.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And for anyone with teenagers on the Internet, that has to trigger concern.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
I sent this email to YouTube a few months ago, didn't receive a reply and the channels/videos are still up.
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