U.S. Army lays out scenarios with terrorists using Twitter

A U.S. military intelligence report has determined that the Twitter microblogging tool could be used by terrorists to coordinate their movements, activities and attacks.

The report from the U.S. Army's 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, now posted on the Federation of American Scientists Web site, details several scenarios where terrorists could use Twitter as an operation tool.

The report noted that human rights groups, communist organizations, anarchists and others are already using the Twitter to communicate with each other and send messages to broader audiences.

"Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives," the report said. "For example, there are multiple pro and anti Hezbollah Tweets. In addition, extremist and terrorist use of Twitter could evolve over time to reflect tactics that are already evolving in use by 'hacktivists' and activist for surveillance. This could theoretically be combined with targeting."

Twitter is increasingly being used to broadcast short messages, or Tweets, from various newsmaking entities, including NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander and members of Congress. Some companies are even monitoring Twitter for customer service complaints.

Last month, Republicans in Congress used Twitter to help stage a protest over a piece of legislation.

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