Summary and Review of an article written by Mia Bloom and Chelsey Daymon- “Assessing the Future Threat: ISIS’s Virtual Caliphate."

I start my analysis from what we see first- name. There were multiple claims by countries leaders’ that DAESH’s¹ days are counted, that the territories were successfully cleared. However, the authors suggest the new appeared threat, which they call ‘virtual caliphate’. It can be more dangerous as it has no real restrictions and boundaries, it is decentralised, thus more flexible by its nature. Writers started from the general perils of the social media, Telegram is seen as a tool in the hands of terrorists due to its unique settings, making it easier to share and impose propaganda on its users. They also explain what is getting done to prevent the flourishing of propaganda, as well as the authors' idea of the resolution of the problem. The aim of the researches is “to investigate how Telegram used by ISIS and its supporters and assess what kind of threat the use of Telegram poses for the future.”  Now let me jump to the summary itself.

The starting point of the paper is “Social media and Radicalisation”, where authors explain the danger of social media, encrypted platforms due to the difficulty to access the data for the third parties (researches, government, NGOs, and etc.) and its addictive qualities. The writers make a number of arguments, I would like to highlight two of them, one made by Marc Sageman: “As a result, sustained presence in online environments can foster extreme political and religious views, excessive violence, and out-group rivalries; they also create an echo chamber for radicalization.” Another argument is made by Matthew Rowe and Hassan Saif: “Individuals are not attending mosques to discuss radical views, but are turning to the internet to find information in line with extreme beliefs.”- This changes our perception of the radicalisation. Authors argue that Telegram is the main threat among other platforms because it has cross-platform service and end-to-end encryption. Besides, its addictive qualities are being examined. Authors claim is that "Telegram’s structure may encourage dependence by ensuring sustained user engagement.” Nevertheless, ISIS has its own tactics to keep people interactive, which include limited access links to enter ISIS chat rooms. The concept of  “Soft power, Social Media and Terrorism” is being discussed, the authors suggest the definition of soft power and the reason why it is so desirable. Moreover, there is a particular category of users, who are more likely to be targetted; researches see them as people who are “lonely, depressed, alienated or drifting away from social moorings. In the part “Online social Ecology, Shared Opinion and Dominant Ideology”, researchers suggest that “sustained immersive communities capable of generating a powerful sense of online place.” Lastly, researches explain what is being done in order to contain the menace and their own perspective on the complex issue and how they see the solutions.

If I may draw my own conclusion on the reading, DAESH might lose the gained territories or lose its active fighters, but an idea does not die; shared content, engaging new people can keep them afloat as long as needed for them to regain power. Social media is, indeed, a strong tool in the hands of anyone it can be a terrorist group or governments, wrong-doers or right-doers.  Any idea can be promoted on the internet so easily, news can be constructed or reconstructed depends on the interest groups. Regular users would not even notice the intervention, how from clearly seeing something as 'wrong', with time they will see it as 'normal'.  Now, it is for everyone to answer if Telegram is something bad or good, is it wrong to save privacy? Or is it wrong not to let researches to collect the needed data? Maybe or maybe not. Another complexity of terrorism is a very good self-explaining term: “for one it could be a terrorist, for another- freedom fighter”. If you keep it in mind, it is possible to prevent people to get in the trap of the terrorist group; they shall not be seen as heroes. As a solution, apart from the already existing means and the writers’ suggestions, I see education, as we often do. Young people, students shall be educated how correctly to react to any kind of propaganda. from any side.  Now it is a war for peoples’ minds.

By Ekaterina P.

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1) DAESH and ISIS are used interchangeably. 

References: Bloom M., Daymon C.( 2018). Assessing the Future Threat: ISIS's Virtual Caliphate. Orbis, 62(3), 372-388