Photo: Alaska Highway News

A B.C. man accused of using his Facebook account to express support of "lone wolf" terrorists in the name of the Islamic State says he was on social media to "shine a light" on atrocities in the Middle East.

Othman Hamdan testified in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday that his posts highlighted government clashes against citizens during the Arab Spring that started in Tunisia in late 2010 and spread to Syria and elsewhere.

Hamdan, 36, told his trial that mainstream media did not initially report people's suffering, especially in Syria, where president Bashar Assad's forces "squashed" people trying to hold peaceful protests, resulting in a wave of refugees leaving the region.

Hamdan said he began posting comments on his Facebook profile and created some pages based initially on what he saw on social media, which played a big role in the series of demonstrations that swept through the Arab world.

The Fort St. John resident has pleaded not guilty to encouraging the commission of murder, assault and mischief as well as inducing and instructing someone to carry out a terrorist act.

Hamdan, who described himself as a non-practising Sunni Muslim, said his posts of political satire, poetry, including some he'd written himself, and parodies were used to "highlight the problem" through humour and exaggerated blunt statements that were innocuous.