To date, all of us are acquainted with the available acronyms trolled the most on the internet, such as ISIL (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), ISIS (The Islamic state of Iraq and Syria), IS or Daesh being the recent one; all referring back to the same group in question. The effort of recent re-branding that the group gave itself is to broadcast their global strategy, extending the mesh of terrorism to the rest of the world, which was only limited to Syria and Iraq, when it emerged. The militant group ISIS was born back in 2003 after the US invasion of Iraq; proclaiming itself as’’ Islamic Caliphate” and thus, controlling a vast area of western Iraq and eastern Syria; depicting their standards of ruthlessness and brutality for the sake of flying their blackandwhite flags.
ISIS has established a nexus from Asia to the African continent with self-proclaimed Islamic groups showing their fidelity to their counterparts within the areas they control; institutionalizing the practices of slavery, rape, genocide and carrying out ethnic cleansing of Muslims, Alawites, Christians, and Shiites in the territory they control. Their control has swept the governed provinces and established a reign of terror second to none.
Despite Its brutal reputation, the group has reinforced its power by enlisting a huge number of foreign volunteers in Syria, most of them belonging to US and European countries. The question that strikes our mind is how did such militant groups manage to reach out and mold the minds of adults. The ISIS masterminds have carved a shrewd manner in refashioning the channel to spread their message by using techniques plundered from movies, video games, and social media.
ISIS is using Western media tools to mold the minds of young, educated teenagers in convincing them their self-proclaimed noble cause and its fight against the presumed evils. There have always existed intricate ties between terrorism and media. Terrorists, in the advancement of their goals, aim to provoke irrational fear amongst people. Media houses in their efforts to provide the latest news, provide coverage and exposure to the aims of militant groups. Like media houses, terrorist groups also need an audience, thus both have been successful in adapting their strategy to keep people’s attention.
A global analysis of over two million Arabic language posts has revealed some shocking details in support of ISIS by Arabic-speaking social media users in the US,, France, and Belgium. The support overseas is surprisingly higher in number than in the heartland ISIS, Syria and Iraq. Apparently, their years of effort are bearing fruit, though ISIS remained a minority in gaining mass support on ground, it has raised significant support among online communities. The percentage revealed by Italian academics depicts 47 percent supportive post and tweets from Qatar, 31 percent from Belgium, 35 percent from Pakistan and approximately 24 percent from the UK and 21 percent from the USA as compared to Saudi Arabia which is only 19 percent.
Islamic State is winning the game over social media, which is a crucial factor in their rise, as some of the recent happenings around the world are evidence of their presence abilityto establish contacts with young revolutionary minds
These statistics depict, the militant Islamic State is winning the game over social media, which is a crucial factor in their rise, as some of the recent happenings in the past around the world are evidence of their ability toestablish contacts with young revolutionary minds.
There have been cases reported in at least eighty-six countries where foreigners, including women and children have been reported to have joined Jihadi movements and were trapped by ISIS media cell through Twitter and Facebook. The youth and professional both are flown ISIS hub, Syria, where they undergo specific training for the task assigned to them.
A few months ago in Pakistan,a twenty-year-old female student Naureen Laghari studying in the secondyear of medical was arrested for having links and joining ISIS through Facebook. Upon interrogation, it was found that Naureen – a resident of Hyderabad – had vanished in early February to join ISIS. She received two months specialized training in Syria and upon her arrival in Lahore, she married Tariq, 32 who was an expert in preparing suicide vests. Tariq was killed in a crossfire held with the Corps at their hideout in Lahore. The couple had a heinous plan of targeting the church, where the Christian community had gathered for Easter celebrations. The plan fortunately failed. The Facebook management had earlier blocked her account due to her extremist views.
Social media companies are collaborating with governments in the war against terrorism. In 2016, Twitter announced that it would delete more than 125,000 accounts, which were linked to terrorist organizations. Companies have established specialized centers in the US and Ireland to combat suspected accounts. A more detailed procedure has been adopted by tech companies, as the extent of content depicting signs of Islamic extremism is ….. alarming. These efforts may create risk for the social media companies which have provided a platform for a free speech and debate, but nothing can be compromised in establishing peace around the world and free of terrorism.
The writer is in the last year of LLB ( Hons) Shariah and law, from International Islamic University and has been writing articles for OPED of The News International newspaper, The Nation, Pakistan observer and daily lead Pakistan newspaper, as a freelance columnist.
Published in Daily Times, August 25th 2017.