"This book investigates ways in which global media coverage of conflicts affects the worldviews of the social and cultural values of nationals from the war regions. It identifies the cultural patterns in remote communities that have been 'diluted' by IT and the extent to which the changes impacted t
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he values of the indigenes. It also describes the role that IT especially social media and broadcast media play in the understanding of war among residents in highly wired and remote communities, respectively." (Publisher description)
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"Over the past decade, radicalisation to violent extremism (VE) has become a matter of pressing public and political concern in Central Asia. Between 2000 and 5000 Central Asians responded to calls to join jihad in Syria and Afghanistan, most of them radicalised while foreign workers in the labour c
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amps of Russia’s cities. While rates are low by global standards, the phenomenon has nonetheless spurred the governments of the region to respond. The legal response taken up by Central Asian countries borrows heavily from Russia’s anti-terrorism measures. Laws are unclear and overbroad in their definitions of extremism, leading to legal uncertainty and repressive application. They set out legal penalties for those creating or disseminating VE and mandate restrictions on the dissemination of VE material, including online. A lack of clarity about what is and is not extremism has resulted in uneven and harsh application of these laws, with lengthy prison sentences for those convicted of no more than liking an extremist Facebook post [...] This report is written in three parts: Part A sets out legislative definitions of extremism and extremist content in Central Asian states, and outlines how they have been applied through criminal prosecution. Part B gives the results of analysis of VE content on Central Asian open social media, blogs and online forums from late 2018, detailing the actors, their use of social media, and the narratives they promulgate; and, Part C examines how content blocking, education and engagement have been used to counter VE content online, and assesses their success." (Executive summary)
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"Analysing millions of news stories together with Twitter and Facebook shares, broadcast television and YouTube, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the architecture of contemporary American political communications. Through data analysis and detailed qualitative case studies of coverage o
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f immigration, Clinton scandals, and the Trump Russia investigation, the book finds that the right-wing media ecosystem operates fundamentally differently than the rest of the media environment. The authors argue that longstanding institutional, political, and cultural patterns in American politics interacted with technological change since the 1970s to create a propaganda feedback loop in American conservative media. This dynamic has marginalized centre-right media and politicians, radicalized the right wing ecosystem, and rendered it susceptible to propaganda efforts, foreign and domestic. For readers outside the United States, the book offers a new perspective and methods for diagnosing the sources of, and potential solutions for, the perceived global crisis of democratic politics." (Publisher description)
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"Based on a bibliometric and scientific study of research conducted in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Arab world, parts of Africa and Asia on the links between the use of social media and the phenomena of radicalization, the Report analyzes more than 550 studies published i
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n scientific literature and “grey literature”, covering outputs in English (260), French (196) and Arabic (96). It shows that very little research has focused on the effective role of the use of social media in violent radicalization. Although many articles deal with electronic strategies and the use of the Internet and online social media for recruitment, there are very few empirical studies that describe and examine the real effects of these strategies on youth, and they rarely examine gender aspects. The Report examines the specificities of online prevention initiatives: counter/alternative narratives and media information literacy (MIL). Several formal and informal MIL initiatives have been implemented around the world according to MIL as a pedagogical practice with a specific set of skills that can respond to narratives of anger and revenge." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"1. Hyper-local factors were the most important components in both radicalisation and counter-radicalisation. Participants placed significant emphasis on the role of ‘heads’ of the neighbourhoods (who are the “only ones able to warn and convince young people against wrongdoing.” Heads of nei
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ghbourhoods have personal qualities that build trust within communities and make them effective first responders. These qualities can be summarised as follows: A credible, non-corrupt person who does not use his position to ‘swindle’ or make a profit; A person who promotes moderate stances and uses moderate speech; Local to the area, not just the region or the city, and speaks common people’s language; and Non-politically aligned and not promoting the values of one particular party or another. Another hyper-local element that helped improve communities’ resilience to radicalisation is the effective presence of security forces clamping down on radical preachers, which helps reduce the spaces of recruitment. Among the most important points highlighted by focus group participants was socio-economic deprivation that contributed to the primary method of radicalisation, which was “not out of religious conviction, but desire of money.” 2. Radicalisation happens offline and involves face-to-face recruiters making direct contact. Participants underlined the importance of hyper-local interaction as “television and social media do not have a drastic influence on young people’s minds. What impacts their thinking are their personal relationships with people they trust.” This concept works both positively and negatively as participants explained that in the incidents of radicalisation they were aware of, recruiters always knew their targets." (Major findings, page 8)
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"Key findings include: The Internet can play a role in the radicalisation process; There are few examples of individuals radicalising entirely online, but there are signs that this could increase over time; There is less evidence of the internet’s role in recruitment to terrorist networks or the u
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se of violence – offline socialisation remains of pivotal importance; Groups such as Al Qaeda, Islamic State (IS) and Al-Shabaab have sophisticated online presences, comprising of online media organisations, mother sites feeding content to others, and a large number of other websites and forums maintained by the wider network; Extremists are making more use of social media, and its importance is likely to grow. It is especially important in allowing women to play a larger role in networks; Extremists use the internet for operational purposes, including communication and the coordination of attacks." (Overview, page 2)
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"The book is divided into five sections: 1. Community Empowerment and Sustainable Development; 2. Hate speech and Incitement; 3. Radicalization and Extremism; 4. Human Rights and Gender Equality; 5. Inter-religious and Intercultural Discourses in the media. Articles submitted are linked to one of th
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e sub-themes above in the context of media and information literacy. Special attention has been given to the intercultural dimensions of these areas. Papers involve an effort to engage the reader to understand media and information literacy beyond their home country or professional area of competence." (Page 16)
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"The study examined various sampled media content and interviewed key informants to understand professional and ethical considerations informing media coverage of terror, religious extremism and radicalisation. From the findings, it is evident that the media somehow contributes to the propagation of
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the dominant narratives that: People of Somali origin are potential terrorists; all Muslims are potential terrorists because most suspects arrested are Muslims; and that Islam preaches and supports radicalisation and extremism, among other narratives. The study reveals that journalists now face serious security risks especially in the coastal region following perceived media biases. In fact, some have been attacked or threatened. The media does not strictly adhere to professional tenets and code of conduct. Some of the noted violations include use of bloody pictures and abhorrent scenes, inability to separate fact from commentary; and use of single news sources which creates impressions of biased reporting. Journalists should equally be careful about words and phrases they use when reporting terrorism and associated issues. They should promote diversity, and have different voices and perspectives on terrorism, religious and radicalisation issues. Consequently, promotion of inter-religious dialogue through the media is important in ensuring a cohesive society. The media should also go beyond superficial reporting and critically interrogate social, economic and political issues and provide a platform for better understanding of the problems that face society." (Executive summary)
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"Visual images have been a central component of propaganda for as long as propaganda has been produced. But recent developments in communication and information technologies have given terrorist and extremist groups options and abilities they never would have been able to come close to even 5 or 10
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years ago. There are terrorist groups who, with very little initial investment, are making videos that are coming so close to the quality of BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] or CNN [Cable News Network] broadcasts that the difference is meaningless, and with access to the web they have instantaneous access to a global audience. Given the broad social science consensus on the power of visual images relative to that of words, the strategic implications of these groups' sophistication in the use of images in the online environment is carefully considered in a variety of contexts by the authors in this collection." (Publisher description)
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