How does one join a terror group? Like example ISIS , do people go to a secret website sign up and get provided flags, bomb parts, or whatever? Or is it just a person saying what they did was for ISIS
You can't really volunteer to be a terrorist. You have to know somebody. At some point, that person will bring you in after talking with others in the group. While you may know that someone in your circles is a terrorist, they will not speak with you about it unless they have zero operational security. If they do speak about it, they are an asset, not a terrorist.
Once you are brought in, you are not brought in as a terrorist. You are brought in as a person sympathetic to their cause who is willing to help by completing small tasks. Over time, these tasks become larger, more illegal, and the information that you would know about the network becomes more in depth.
The hard truth is, that unless you are running a cell or the movement, you are never really a terrorist. You are a disposable asset that can be used by terrorists to further their own ends. Sort of in the way that cheering for the Chiefs doesn't make you a football player. Sure, you have the gear and you know the talking points, you may even inspire others to similar action, but when push comes to shove, you will be cut off without a second thought. This is similar to how many intelligence agencies treat their assets.
If you were to go the lone wolf route and carry out an action in the name of a specific terrorist group, you would still not be a terrorist. You would be someone who was radicalized by the terrorist group.
Finally, no self-respecting terrorist group will refer to themselves as a terrorist group. Their cause is always righteous and those in power have eliminated all acceptable courses to express their grievances.
"cheering for the Chiefs doesn't make you a football player"
No see THAT makes you a terrorist.
Okay, that was a bad example on my part.
speaking from experience?
My undergraduate degree was in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Since it was an interdisciplinary degree, the actual content was dependent on my interests and what was available at the university at the time. I studied a lot of American Imperialism Post-9/11, Middle Eastern Politics, and the general foundations of terrorism as a political tool. Add in some Liberation Theology, Economics of the Military Industrial Complex, and a deep dive into the ethics of Just and Unjust Wars, and the end result is that I know a bit about this area. It's all academic and I would be useless for anything other than soft-target terrorism on a very small scale.
Social net eroded by the state, Be radicalized on the internet, find like minded people, be introduced to a secret community on whats app/telegram, shown the steps how to go or where to go to be enlisted into training camp.
Kind of seems weird that I go to such and such website or app and pledge my allegince and they supply me with money to be trained overseas.
Your imagination is oversimplifying the process. It's not "this morning I decided to be a terrorist so I signed up for jihad on their website and later that evening I was planting IEDs on tanks". It's a gradual process of recruitment and radicalization, testing and evaluation over months or years, with many intermediate steps and countless small tests of loyalty along the way as you work your way into the organizations and then up within them. Trust is not given it is earned. Your first "job" will probably be from someone who acts like they're just being social and having conversations with you as a friend, and they'll likely to encourage you to do something like parroting their propaganda on other places on social media, and as you do they'll judge how well you follow instructions and how resourceful you are and might start giving you hints of other things you can do and see if you take the bait and judge how you react to those suggestions.
Literally no one has suggested that the process is anything like that.
The website/app is probably secondary to being vetted by in-person operatives already receiving money if I had to guess.
Most recruiting comes from legal extremist groups with linked ideologies.
Usually terrorists will approach you, more than the other way around. After you've been profiled you may be invited/coerced to join.
If they want you to make an "action" (they usually not call them terrorists attacks), they will provide you with minimal information, and the supplies will only be provided strictly when needed. Depending on what you are doing it can be hours of weeks before the action. Training will be non-existent. Most terrorist actions do no require training, just a human to do simple actions. If you are in an active warzone it would be different, you'd be trained as militia. But for typical domestic terrorism they won't really provide training right of the back. If with time you grow into the organization they may train you in shooting if you would be doing actions which require shooting a weapon, or in explosives if you are going to be more involved with that. But terrorist groups tend to rely in recruiting already trained people more than in training them themselves.
As for ideological brainwash, you are expected to have some good degree of radicalization before joining, but a great degree of brainwashing will happen in jail once you are caught. A terror group is another prison gang, and they will try to keep you inside their ideology while in prison so you can continue working inside and, maybe, outside once you are out, probably not with direct actions anymore.
At least that's my understanding on what happened with ETA and yihadism here in Spain
This is mostly correct, just for addition:
I will talk about Islamic terrorism that is not limited to ISIS.
Short answer: They are mostly invited. Recruiters go to mosques and look for people who share the same ideology.
These recruiters often come to countries where Islamic conservatism is the main group in the country. These terrorist groups have some specialized people where they are very good at brainwashing people. And they work in small groups, often splitting up and going to their own destinations to find people with potential in the many mosques in small towns or villages. Most new members are invited by others who are already members of the group and they accept the invitation easily because they share the same ideology.
Asking for a fed FRIEND
Can you guys name some people who have successfully made the leap?
Where can I find the terrorists' headquarters?
Friend
Scoopy Doo pull off the mask meme .jpg
Friend
Go places where sociopaths prey on the weak minded. Reddit would be a good start.
Eh, some Lemmings would totally just bomb an Amazon factory and if confronted with the workers also getting killed, they'll justifying by saying "they willingingly worked for Amazon, there for they are guilty for polluting the planet".
If I was the director of FBI, I could just make dummy accounts inciting violence on Lemmy then when someone actually does it, I can be like "RADICAL LEFTIST CAUGHT TRYING DESTROY OUR COUNTRY". camera pans to congress "... and the yeas have it, the The USA Patriotism and Anti-Terrorism Enabling Act of 2025 has been passed"
So much fedposting on Lemmy lol, I see you, FBI.
Don't act like it can't happen here. There are some deeply unhappy people on this website.
You could say that about anywhere, but those predators don't go anywhere they go where they get away with it. Reddit has a long history of enabling pedophiles and terrorists.
If the last few weeks in the UK are anything to go by, simply holding a sign is enough to be deemed part of a terrorist organisation.
(For clarification, this is in reference to the recent protests about the highly controversial proscription of Palestine Action)
Typically, you go online to profess your dissatisfaction with your country. After doing this for awhile you will be approached by a terrorist cell. They will groom you, errr I mean teach you the ways of resistance.
It will start small, but eventually you will get to get to the "Martyr" level. They will give you the plan and supplies. On the day of your terror attack you will be nervous, but also at peace. As you step outside with your homemade bomb suit you will suddenly be rushed by the FBI.
Turns out the terrorist cell was really just an FBI agent who indoctrinated you for funsies. After you are hauled away and imprisoned for life the FBI will get a bump in funding for finding more terrorists.
So basically your saying is I should shutup about the Orange Turd?
Glowie
ISIS has/had for a while a really good recruitment program that identified and groomed Muslim ideologists. I have a distant relative that was married to such a Muslim man. He was recruited by them, eventually proclaimed himself a member, and to make a long story short will now spend most of the rest of his life in jail.
Hope you're not looking for guide lines, so roughly, A terror group is not a bookclub. You can't sign up and be in. They don't run a fanclub mercandice store either. I guess you kind of roll/grow in to it. But yes, there also wannabes claiming they are part of a group while they are not., for whatever reason.
That's a question for your local police intelligence service, I'm sure they can point you in the right direction.
And they're probably already on their way to your location based on this post. Convenient!