Iftikhar Hussain
The Internet is a key source for violent extremists to encourage others to adopt their views. In their messaging to potential supporters and vulnerable audiences, extremists use simplistic analysis and offer violent solutions to problems that span a range of complex social, economic, religious and political issues at both local and global level. The state of affairs demands identification of good practices in using the internet to undermine the appeal of terrorism, to expose the misconception about its legitimacy in vulnerable Muslim communities, its negative impact, and to challenge the credibility of its messengers. The governments may not always be best placed to lead this work and need the cooperation of civil society, the private sector, academia, the media and victims of terrorism. Given the national as well as global nature of terrorist narratives, the need to counter them stipulates in the same space; there is a special role for all spheres of societies in facilitating the actions countering extremists’ ideologies domestically and worldwide.
The internet has enabled the collection of extremist ideas and materials that may lead a vulnerable individual for self recruitment, sometimes unaided by any intermediary. Such self-recruited extremists can join a community of like-minded individuals which then develop its own ideology. These networks are resilient and adaptive, despite growing law enforcement efforts to take them down. Online extremist forums can play a key role in the radicalisation process of an individual or a group. Often identified with religious symbolism and rituals, and rejection of western cultures, these forums provide individuals an emotional outrage with a sense of identity and purpose which may lead them to consider it a personal duty to take action as soldiers in a war to protect their cause. Extremism can grow out of the domestic conditions of any country and the internet can play a facilitating role in radicalizing any set of vulnerable individuals in the same way that it does for DAISH related extremists. There is complete agreement that DAISH related extremists represent neither the Muslim community nor Islamic belief.
The terrorists have used the Internet for communication within and beyond the terrorist network, to share information on current events, as a tool of indoctrination and to maintain ideological group cohesion, and to share operational knowledge on violent tactics and targets. The computers recovered from the terrorists contained propaganda and proselytizing texts and audio/video clips from key leaders as well as from unidentified preachers, all reinforcing the legitimacy of terrorism. However, in radicalisation there is often a degree of accidental contact in an hour of need rather than a deliberate path. The radical movements are often most successful in recruiting new followers when offering some form of identity/sense of belonging. In this context, the recruitment approach of terrorist groups is pointing out that a common factor is the focus on young people.
One of the major challenges for countering radicalization online is to identify the right target audience, and then designing of the message in a way that resonates with it. Social-networks such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly used by terrorist organizations without any sustained/credible counter-effort in those forums. There is need to increase positive messaging and original information about terrorists which is very hard to find on the internet, so as to drive out the bad with the good. When searching for statements about DAISH or similar extremist groups on the internet, search results are more likely to turn up extremist content then counter-narratives and unfortunately, about 75% of users never go beyond the first page of search results. All stakeholders in Pakistan should engage in more positive messaging and discussion of what worked and what did not, particularly through social-networking forums.
The role of mainstream media is very important both in reporting on terrorism and in spreading counter-narratives. While mainstream media may generally cover terrorism objectively, it is unlikely that professional journalists would intentionally spread counter-narratives. There are several cases of interesting retractions from terrorism by regretful extremists, which could serve as highly effective counter-narratives if disseminated to a broader audience, but such retractions are not picked up by mainstream media. On the upside, the mainstream media have significant reach, often also into vulnerable communities and relevant audiences. And while not being co-opted as propaganda instruments, professional journalists have the responsibility to “dig deeper” with solid reporting going beyond mere news coverage, and ideally focusing on uncovering the truth behind a story, including going beyond the terrorist narrative, discounting prevailing myths, and establishing transparency. Exposure of the fault lines can also be used by credible messengers to pinpoint the weaknesses and illegitimacy of the terrorists’ narrative on the justifications for killing innocent Muslims. In this regard, studies had shown that DAISH and TTP related terror attacks had killed eight times more Muslims than non-Muslims. It is agreed that mainstream media could and should report this type of information while preserving necessary objectivity and transparency and ensuring proper sourcing.
There is need to know that how the counter-narratives had become a major part of counter terrorism, even on the operational level, for example in defeating the Taliban in the Pakistani Swat valley, during which targeted messages on the internet (as well as through traditional media) had played a major role. Yet nothing had been more powerful than a video of the Taliban flogging a young woman, or a recording of a Taliban leader claiming to be the only true Muslim, and every advantage should be taken of such self-inflicted setbacks. There is still an insufficient understanding of target audiences which can vary even within a particular country. The importance of political will to unite and sustain any effort to promote counter narratives on national, regional or international basis is self-evident, but it often failed at the first hurdle because there is no clarity in many ways as to who is in charge of such initiatives. There is reluctance by community leaders, including religious leaders and recognized figures from the sports and entertainment world to work with governments. Counter-narrative work is a “slow-burn” activity and finding partners in communities, as well as seeing what messages resonate, take time.
While extremists may exploit vulnerable people to recruit them to terrorism, most radicals are self-selecting on internet which demands the presence of abundant counter arguments to violence. It is unclear what role governments could play in this process, whether facilitation, initiation, inspiration or some other. Civil society is clearly an essential force-multiplier that could promote positive messages about alternatives to terrorism that will have a more powerful impact than the negative messages distributed by violent extremists. It is important to recognize that initial processes of radicalisation predominantly occurred offline. While the Internet is an important secondary socialiser and potential catalyst for radicalisation, offline processes must be better addressed in preventative measures, particularly within schools, seminaries, universities and prisons. Online counter-extremism work must learn from the successes and failures of offline counter-extremism, and coordinate with offline efforts. The internet presents numerous difficulties for lawmakers, given the lack of national borders online. It is often the case that the offender or website used is based in a foreign jurisdiction. Encryption may also prevent the offender’s identity being known to prosecutors. Furthermore, it is increasingly the case that illegal material is shared, not on static websites owned by the offender but on social media platforms, meaning that private companies, often also in foreign jurisdictions, are then asked to remove the content rather than authorities being able to remove entire websites. The legal course demands extensive cooperation at all levels, among states, NGOs, MNCs and civil societies given the nature of vulnerability in use of internet locally and worldwide. As such, traditional legal tools are outdated when it comes to counter-terrorism policing online and in particular case of Pakistan, it demands renewal of cyber crime laws in the age of cyber warfare.
