| Summary: | The 21st century had witnessed the rise of media psychological war using social media platforms as the new weapon for militant group to build influence, recruitment and strengthen their ideology in the global world. Professional use of social media by militant group is a new and emerging trend. This research specifically looks at Daesh involvements in the social media and how they have used it to advance their motives. Such phenomenon had made Malaysia’s national security on the verge of uncertainty. Although the situation is currently deemed under control, the Malaysian government remains vigilant and at the same time advancing tight security measures where necessary. The Malaysian government is still in control of every information flow from local news agencies to the domestic mainstream media. However, in the borderless world of social media, controlling the distribution of militant ideology is a new problem. Analysis of current news reports will be the prime research activity. Besides that, books and academic referred journals are also used to strengthen the credibility of the research content. Finally, this research concludes that Malaysia are still in the development stage of constructing feasible formula, model, and action plan to exterminate Daesh threats that are robustly fertile in the social media world. Furthermore, the roots of Daesh threat remain unreachable to the Malaysian armed forces fire power and immune to the Malaysian laws due to geopolitical distance that situated deep in the unreachable conflict zone of Iraq and Syria. Conclusively, this research suggests that simplifying the complex problem of terrorism in the social media realm is not advisable. As information and communication technologies advances, terrorist group will learn to evolve and adapt to the newly developed media environment. Realizing the power of video and social media is the government starting point to understand how it can be use against Daesh’s terror game plan. Perhaps, a new psychological warfare narrative in social media should be the key. Malaysia needs to get into same playing field to counter Daesh’s propagandas in the social media which continue to influence and encourage the breeding of militant and terrorist fanatics in Malaysia. © 2016, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press. All rights reserved.
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