Terrorists using Twitter? Seriously?

The US Army has declared Twitter a potential tool to organize a terrorist attack. They’re basing this on the fact that news spread rapidly about the July earthquake in LA – much faster than news outlets could report the news. Activists at the RNC in Minneapolis apparently used the service to provide information on police movements.

So, ok fine. Yes, those of us who use Twitter spread information and news rapidly. Much of the breaking news that I become aware of comes to me through Twitter. What I’m having trouble with is what seems like paranoia over the tool.  As Noah Shachtman, of Wired’s Danger Room points out with his hilarious graphic, this just seems way too  reactionary.

“Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,” the intelligence report said.

“Terrorists could theoretically use Twitter social networking in the US as an operation tool,” it said. “However, it is unclear whether that same theoretical tool would be available to terrorists in other countries and to what extent.” 

What do you think? Are we all being too dismissive about this?