Getting The Best Of Social Media While Defeating Terrorism

Wednesday January 20, 2016

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Al Shabaab has revised the number of Kenyan soldiers it claims to have killed in Last Friday’s attack at El-Adde, Somalia, from 63 to 100. This was communicated through Radio Andalus, a pro-militant station that broadcasts via the Internet in Mogadishu.

Back in Kenya, despite legislation against broadcast and publication of gory images of terrorism victims (which was contested in court) and God-given ability to reason, social media users went ahead and shared the images online.

They also came up with #63IsNotJustANumbe, which is okay, Kenyans on Twitter were mourning fallen soldiers. The number, however, is a different matter all together.

Propaganda is often used in wartime to create perception of being the winning side. The number of injured and casualties is exaggerated. The Kenya Defence Forces has not communicated any figures.

Probably, every war is fought on at least two grounds: the battlefield and the minds of constituents through propaganda. Propaganda may be through distortions, exaggerations, subjectivity, inaccuracy and even fabrications, to receive support and a sense of legitimacy. Al Shabaab has done this before.

Terrorism is an activity that is now characterised by modern civilisation. The new model of conflict, seemingly based on cumulative impacts of specific developments in modern technology, has increased in frequency and taken novel dimensions.

Despite some scholars insisting that the distinction between old and modern terror is one of scale and not nature, that it is more of political watershed. The role of media in terrorism cannot be ignored. It is through media that terrorist groups claim responsibility for their acts, hence, communicating their strength. The need to kill is fuelled by the desire to make bigger headlines.

Modern communication technology and transport allow s terror groups to coordinate over vast spaces. The Global Terrorism Database listed 1,395 attacks in 1998, a figure that rose to 8,441 in 2012. The number of casualties in the past 15 years has soared from 3,387 to 15,396. Terrorist groups increasingly use the media to promote their agenda.

A study by Gabriel Weimann from the University of Haifa, found that nearly 90 per cent of organised terrorism on the internet takes place via social media. Terror groups use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc, to spread their messages, recruit members and gather intelligence. Taliban tweeted from @alemarahweb while al Shabaab tweeted from @HSMPress. Both accounts were suspended.

In pre-modern terrorism, the assassins of the Middle East propagated their terror based on political reasons. They originated from a Shiite Sect – Nazri Ismailis. They assassinated high profile political figures in broad daylight. After the killing, the terrorist – fidai– would not run away—modern-day suicide bombing. These suicide missions continue to inspire contemporary terror groups.

Daylight assassinations got people’s attention and propagated fear and terror. Terror groups such as ISIS now record graphic videos of beheadings and broadcast them though mainstream and social media. Almost all groups have websites because they have to depend on global communications networks.

Terrorists want attention. When social media users share these images, they amplify theterrorists’ cause. They offer them free publicity. This extends to the mainstream media. Research shows sensationalist media coverage of acts of terror results in more such acts. We therefore need to review how media covers and responds to such atrocities.

We need more than legislation. The citizenry need to be educated on how to behave when such acts occur. Some of the social media users fail, out of ignorance or lack of knowledge the dynamics of terrorism and how it is propagated.

Both social and mainstream media managers and owners should, though hard, ensure that their platforms are not used by terror groups. Government should ensure that through anti-radicalisation programmes and sensitisation.

The writer is an international relations practitioner.

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