Online Propaganda by Terrorist Organisations

The rise of ISIS has been a living testament to the use of the internet for gaining new supporters. Social media, one of the greatest innovations of the 21^st century, has been a preferred tool of terror groups because it is free and connects these terror groups to their potential recruits and supporters across the world. The terror attacks in Paris, for example, were not only praised on social media but the perpetrators used the opportunity to gain not just financial support but also the violence was propagated online to attract recruits. Media platforms like Twitter and Facebook host al-Qaida-backed fan pages which not only put terror content but also interact with social media users across the world. To cite one example, AQIM, the al-Qaida-backed terror group in Yemen held a virtual press conference on Twitter in 2013. The terror group allowed the Twitter users to submit their questions online, the answers to which were posted back on Twitter. In February 2014, twitter became a tool to raise funds for jihadists in Syria by a Saudi-based cleric.

Executing the narrative

The terror groups often combine ideological, political, moral, religious, and social narratives with either real or imagined grievances. The idea is to create a universal ideological structure backed by half-truths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. This is used to convey a message which is often misinterpreted and provides only one side of the story. The basic aim here is to question the enemy’s credibility through de-humanizing it. Though the contents, methods, and target audiences may vary from time to time there are some messages and calls of action which can be highlighted. As per a press briefing of the Institute for Strategic Studies, these can be categorized as duty, victimhood, religious reward, belonging, adventures, assertions, omission, etc.

Promotional content on violence remains a common theme in terror propaganda. The internet has widened the reach of terrorist organizations who now can reach their potential audience with one click. Apart from this, the use of the internet as a delivery tool has largely reduced the reliance on traditional channels of communications such as news services. Unlike the traditional platforms, the internet has not yet developed any mechanism to censor the contents of the propaganda which allows the raw content to reach directly to its targeted audience. Owing to this limitation, several video footages glorifying violence and containing raw footage of executions have been circulated through the internet. Along with violent acts filmed and propagated, rhetorics or speeches glorifying violence and encouraging violent acts is also common propaganda that has found a larger audience base on the internet largely through the social media platforms hosting such types of content. Dedicated websites, virtual chatrooms and forums, online magazines, and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Rapidshare, and YouTube have been proved to be preferred tools for the dissemination of such rhetoric.

Though the tools for the propaganda distribution remain the same the objectives of the propaganda vary from one target audience to another. The target audience for these contents may vary from an actual supporter to potential recruitment or an opponent or to undermining an individual’s belief in certain collective social values. Also, some propaganda may have the objective of intensifying public fear or anxiety and thus creating panic in the population. Keeping these objectives in mind the terror groups manufacture or create propaganda and distribute it to the targeted audience. For example, content aimed at potential recruitments may comprise messages glorifying violence and conveying pride certain extremist objectives. This propaganda may also be used as evidence for those who are indulged in terror financing. Execution videos or videos featuring attacks on security forces, for example, may be circulated on the internet to prove that the money being siphoned off to these terror groups has been put to good use. For creating fear in the minds of the population tools like disinformation, rumours, threats, etc are used.  

Recruitments through propaganda

Gaining recruits have been the prime agenda of terror groups. The contents peddled on various social media platforms using the internet are used not only to gain attraction but also to cultivate a close relationship with those who are found to be the most responsive to this propaganda. It is the internet that has made it possible for a handler sitting in one country to connect with not only his potential recruits but also to the sleeper cells awaiting instructions. Password protection websites and closed chat groups make it extremely difficult for intelligence agencies to track these communications. Also, the law enforcement agencies are often constrained by several laws protecting the individual’s private sphere and thus the moral obligations attached to the work of these agencies often make their reactions late.

The terror propagandas are often targeted at societies vulnerable or marginalized. Cases of injustice, exploitation or exclusion often act as trigger points for the youth of these communities to fall prey to the propaganda. Besides the social, economic, and demographic factors also act as good hooks.

The west has been at the receiving end of the online propaganda targeting potential fighters for participating in ongoing conflicts in Somalia, Libya, Mali, and Syria. The foreign fighters joining ISIS, from countries in western Europe and Southeast Asia, the United States and Canada, reminded of the Mujahideen being joined by many foreign fighters in its fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Social media became the critical recruitment platform for ISIS as it used the SM platforms to portray itself as the fulfiller of the jihadi fantasy. Familiar concepts such as Jihad were reinterpreted, and misinterpreted, and disseminated as the central narrative of ISIS on various social media platforms to lure fighters from foreign nations to join the cause of Jihad. The shocking barbaric acts of public executions were manufactured as dramatic films and were broadcasted via social media to reach the computer screen of the potential supports sitting thousands of miles away. The social media platforms became the online “theatre” of ISIS.

Mitigating the challenge

Not enough has been done to mitigate the threats possessed by these terror outfits through the use of the internet and social media platforms. Taking down accounts indulged in propaganda or filtering the contents may not be an effective strategy. We need to equip the silent majority with skills to see through extremist propaganda and push back against the terror outfits by taking control of the online space. The need of the hour is to invest in digital literacy and prepare our youth to deconstruct the extremist content. Counter-messaging, counternarrative, and alternative narrative activities must be coordinated at a centralized level. Non-governmental organizations can play an important role in offering credible alternatives and hence governments must start investing in the capabilities of these NGOs. Private tech sectors can be put to use for their expertise to help the voices of credible messengers. Terrorism is no more a regional phenomenon hence any effort to fight against it must also not be restricted to regional cooperation. A transnational phenomenon like terrorism needs a transnational response. Governments across the border must work together to exchange expertise and lessons learned against terrorist propaganda. Capacity building must happen at a multilateral level.

Concluding Remarks

Different terror groups have used the internet for the dissemination of their ideological propaganda. It can take the form of online interaction, online audio-video files glorifying violence, presentations, instructions, video games promoting terror acts, or virtual magazines. However, the idea of free speech and a subjective assessment of whether something constitutes terrorist propaganda or a genuine expression of a viewpoint remains a problem in tackling the spread of fundamentalist ideologies. International Law does not prohibit any dissemination of propaganda. The respect for Freedom of Expression, which is a basic tenet of International Law, guarantees individuals to put forth their viewpoints or opinion or disseminate contents that may or may not be objectionable to others. The only restriction here is the prohibition of the distribution of certain categories of sexually explicit content. Some other prohibitions may be implemented in case some communications are detrimental to the protection of national security. Overall classification of communications as terrorist propaganda and prohibiting its dissemination is a tough nut to crack and often benefits the terror propaganda.

For further references

https://www.unodc.org/documents/frontpage/Use_of_Internet_for_Terrorist_Purposes.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/834358/Littler-Exploring-Radicalisation-and-Extremism-Online.pdf

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Countering%20the%20Appeal%20of%20Extremism%20Online_1.pdf

https://www.mei.edu/publications/jihadi-recruitment-and-return-asian-threat-and-response

https://www.mei.edu/publications/isis-and-institution-online-terrorist-recruitment

Pic Courtesy-Aladdin Hammami at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)