Unit 3 - Section A: Globalisation - Impact of digital forms of communication on conflict and change

Question 1

Lesaca

Answer 1

Spread of religious fundamentalism. ‘Fight Against ISIS Reveals Power of Social Media’. Russia received the most threats by ISIS via videos broadcasted on social media - more than 25 in the last 2 years. France follows, almost 20 in the same time period, since France became a victim of attacks. Use videos to encourage people to join their terrorist groups, once enlisted, get them to persuade peers. E.g. Whatsapp to coordinate attacks. Used social media to groom young children (girls) such as ‘Shamima Begam’ - targeted with false hopes. The Department of State posted more than 300 videos on social media that counter violence (e.g. Twitter, Youtube). Should communicate effectively to counter terrorism - rather than miltary intervention, internet should be used passively. 1) Military operations hsould be accompained by digital communication strategy (audiovisual material). 2) Counternarrative campaign should be based on experience by Muslim/Arabs. 3) ISIS campaigns obtain more engagement when distributed through government channels. 4) Videos and images containing real action images.

Question 2

Howard

Answer 2

Christian fundamentalist groups were using the internet as a key role to promote their ideologies. A virtual church was built around those who embraced common ideologies and his study ‘Digital Jesus’ shows how like-minded people created a large web of communication on the internet. This showed new types of religious movements without a central leader. BBC Documentary - ‘America’s Hate Preachers’ - Conservative gender roles, homophobic, transphobic, islamophobic.

Question 3

Sutton, Palen and Scklovski

Answer 3

Acknowledge that new forms of digital communications are becoming increasingly important when aiming to deal with disasters. They carried out research during the Southern California Wildfires in 2007 - the use of new digital communication helped to pass on community information. They argue that this is impacting on the way in which institutions and organisations respond to disasters. E.g. ‘National Bushfire Recovery Agency’ (Twitter), ‘CalFire’ (Twitter).