the digital jihadis and the digital outreach programs
Posted by hakawi on November 18, 2007
What saddens me is how the real terrorists – as opposed to the made up terrorists of G.W. and his admin – are using th internet for their ‘digital jihad’. Instead of using the internet for beneficial stuff, they use it to network, communicate,, and post horrendous stuff on it.
Apparently alQaeda [or God knows who!] is using Pixar technology to re-create their attacks and post their propaganda and ‘achievements’ videos, according to Wired Magazine. View this video hosted on LiveLeak .
Morons!
On the other hand, we find the US government and its efforts to recruit bloggers though its digital outreach programs. The programs aim at responding to moderate Arab bloggers:
These bloggers speak the language and idiom of the region, know the cultural reference points and are often able to converse informally and frankly rather than adopt the usually more formal persona of a U.S. government spokesperson. This is a major departure from our previous ways of conducting public diplomacy. It requires both creativity and a new set of skills. [testimony before Congress republished in Wired magazine]
Well.. they say it is ’successful’, and I wonder how success has been measured besides the fact that they have a site [link] that attracts 200,000 visitors:
Our Bureau of International Information Programs is fully engaged in dramatically expanding public diplomacy and countering extremist ideologies through the Internet. Our English language website and six foreign language sites – including Arabic and Persian – are being revamped to use more videos, blogging, podcast and webchats designed to reach younger audiences. The Arabic web site has the specific goal of countering violent extremism by offering a positive vision rooted in American values. It attracts more than 200,000 visitors per month, top users coming from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
Too little tool late? that’s for sure. This should have happened BEFORE the war, not after. Certainly not after the US losing total credibility about everything they do concerning the Middle East. Not after blunder after blunder by this administration.
This all could have worked… but we do have the example of al Hurra and others – targeted audiences, and targeted programs.
Well…
