[2] She was an active member of Raqqa Is Being Silently Slaughtered (RBSS), an activist group that works to document the violation of human rights caused by ISIL's rise to prominence within the region.

[10] The founder of RBSS, Abu Mohammed claims that he attempted to dissuade Hassan from continuing her posts; encouraging her to switch identities and remove personal photos of herself from her accounts.

Before Ruqia Hassan's disappearance, she had been under surveillance by ISIL, as the group believed her posts to social media to be acts of espionage in collaboration with the Free Syrian Army.

[3] Between the time of her capture and execution, Jihadists gained access to her accounts and began messaging friends in an attempt to acquire information about other possible dissenters within and outside the region.

[11] According to members of RBSS, the group continued to be active on her Facebook account and stating she was still alive until early January 2016, just as news of her execution began to widely circulate.

[7][10][12] The increased suppression was believed to come directly from the deaths of well-known members caused by coalition forces, helped by the supply of inside information about the group.

[16] A cousin close to the Hassan family stated in an interview that he believes that the reporting on her actions will push others to continue her efforts, despite the threat of punishment from extremists.

In response to Hassan's execution, Irina Bokova, the head of the agency United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued the statement: "I condemn the murder of Ruqia Hassan [...] I wish to pay tribute to this journalist's courageous stand for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the most difficult of circumstances and her defiance of the brutal campaign that violent extremists are waging to suppress individuals' freedom to think, speak, and act.

"[17] While Furat al-Wafaa, a former member of the activist group RBSS, spoke to the news company Syria Direct in response to Hassan's arrest and execution.

He said of her death and ISIL's suppression of dissenters:"Ruqia continuously challenged IS and often reported on air strikes on Raqqa as they happened [...] IS always wants to keep the sword hovering over the people's necks [...] They want their fighters and supporters to know that the Islamic State is capable of taking revenge against those who speak against them.

"[18]After the news of Hassan's death became public knowledge in January 2016 the founder of RBSS, Abu Mohammed, confirmed her execution by the extremist group and posted her final status update to his Twitter page.