Video footage and still images purportedly showing ISIS hostage Muath al-Kaseasbeh burning to death in a cage are circulating online, but social media users are urging others not to share the extremist propaganda.
Twitter users are encouraging people to share other images, such as the one below, showing him alive and well.
The Jordanian government on Tuesday confirmed the execution of al-Kaseasbeh, saying his captors killed him on Jan. 3 — 10 days after ISIS militants took him hostage. The pilot ejected from his F-16 fighter jet while flying as part of an international coalition mission against ISIS in Syria. Jordan is one of the 12 countries (including Canada) actively taking part in bombing campaigns targeting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
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Since last August, when a video depicting the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley appeared online, ISIS has steadily released footage of executions and other atrocities, often including threats against those who try to stop its fight for a self-declared caliphate.
The argument is that sharing images of vicious murders of captives by ISIS, even in outrage or disgust, only plays into the terror group’s hands and further spreads and glorifies their horrific acts.
READ MORE: How effective are government efforts to stop ISIS propaganda?
It was a similar story just three days ago, when ISIS released footage of the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto being executed, purportedly beheaded in a similar way to Foley and several other Western journalists and aid workers.
They included: American journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid workers Alan Henning and David Cawthorne Haines and U.S. humanitarian worker Abdul Rahman (Peter) Kassig.
The fates of Goto and al-Kaseasbeh had been tied to a demand for a prisoner swap, with ISIS wanting Jordan to release female attempted suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi.
READ MORE: After Kassig, ISIS still holding John Cantlie and female U.S. aid worker
Goto was kidnapped in November. He had reportedly travelled to Syria to search for his kidnapped friend — 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa, a self-styled private security contractor taken captive in August.
ISIS had originally demanded a $200 million ransom for their release, but later claimed to have executed him, in a video showing Goto holding an picture of Yukawa’s beheaded body.
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Social media users attempted to quell the spread of images showing Goto’s execution, sharing his tweets posted prior to his kidnapping, YouTube video of his journalistic work and photos of him with Syrian children.
One of Goto’s tweets, posted four years ago, has also become a tribute to the murdered journalist. It’s been shared more than 35,000 times and favourited by more than 39,000 people.
Not everyone agreed that holding an #ISISMediaBlackout was an effective way to counter ISIS propaganda, with some people suggesting it either promotes ignorance of what is going on in ISIS-held territory or that the campaign against ISIS propaganda still has people talking about the militant group’s barbaric acts.
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