By Aabid Shafi ISIS’ social media capabilities are well known. The effectiveness with which the group makes use of social media to recruit new fighters and spread its propaganda has set off an alarm among security agencies around the globe. It has even led to former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton terming ISIS the “most…
ISIS
by Haroro Ingram Countering Islamic State “strategic communications” is one of the most pressing national security concerns facing Western governments. Developing more nuanced understanding of the organization’s communications strategy will be crucial to devising effective counter-narrative strategies. Yet popular commentary tends to explain the appeal of Islamic State messaging by pointing to its graphic violence, use…
by David Donaldson The Australian Defence Force’s latest initiative in the war on the Islamic State, a Twitter account disputing “Daesh lies”, builds on lessons from the problems encountered by earlier attempts at countering IS propaganda — but nobody really knows if it will work. The @fight_DAESH account, which became the object of unwanted attention when…
by J.M Berger The world continues to deal with the offline consequences of how ISIS works online, hunting among the fringes of society for those rare individuals who can be convinced to act on its behalf. Its success comes in part from volume – social media makes it possible to sift efficiently through more potential…
by Massimo Leone On the one hand, terrorism is the antithesis of communication. It does not aim at transmitting any message to its victims, but at annihilating them. On the other hand, yet, terrorism is extremely powerful communication for those who witness the tragedy, directly or through the media, and are either terrified or fascinated…
By Sam Garin In a video entitled “There is no Life without Jihad,” young men shaded by verdant palm trees empathetically assure their audience that they understand their struggle as Muslims in a western country. The video shows English-speaking members of the Islamic State give calm, earnest testimonies urging Muslims in the West to join the terrorist…
by Yannick Veilleux-Lepage Although there is nothing new in violent extremist groups quickly adopting new technology, what has hardly any precedent is the breadth of the communication strategy implemented by IS. Not only does IS use new technology to create the content which it releases, it also utilizes new technologies innovatively in the dissemination of…
VOX-Pol Research Fellow Dr. Nico Prucha, is currently being hosted by ICSR at King’s College London, a VOX-Pol partner institution. On Monday, 6 July, Dr. Prucha delivered an hour-long lecture on the ideological narratives of Islamic States as presented through their online media output at KCL’s Strand Campus. The session was chaired by ICSR’s Dr.…
by Nico Prucha How the Arabic Ideology of Jihadist Movements Targets non-Arab(ic) Online Networks, Part 2 Jihadist narratives are fostered by the increasingly visual nature of online culture. Videos are the most important mouthpiece to show the manifestation and realisation of jihadist creed (‘aqida) and methodology (manhaj) for which they claim to live and die.…
The Brookings Institution, in conjunction with the State of Qatar, convened the 12th annual US-Islamic World Forum in Doha from 1 – 3 June. The Forum’s theme was “Changing Assumptions,” which referred to historic shifts in geopolitical realities affecting the United States and Muslim-majority countries, as well as to societal and cultural norms. VOX-Pol’s Coordinator Dr…
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