Fatal attraction: explaining variation in the attractiveness of Islamic State propaganda

Milton, D. J.

doi:10.1177/0738894218759008

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Other studies show that when rebels conduct attacks with high levels of victims, they tend to lose online support when this information circulates in social media platforms (Barceló and Labzina 2020). In contrast, when rebels publish that they limit their violence against their opponents, they tend to receive more support (Milton 2020).…”

Section: The Internet and Popular Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints and military coordination: How ICTs shape the intensity of rebel violence

Macías-Medellín

Atuesta

2021

International Interactions

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Why and how do information and communication technologies (ICTs) shape the intensity of rebel violence? Recent studies find that ICTs can both increase and decrease such violence. We argue that, during civil wars, this effect depends on the type of ICTs. Mobile phones give rebels better military coordination to organize violence. In contrast, the internet increases the constraints of rebel groups to use violence. On the one hand, the internet increases the visibility of rebel groups forcing them to moderate their levels of violence. On the other hand, the internet gives rebels' opponents better tools to limit the levels of rebel violence. We test these two arguments empirically with panel data of rebel violence in countries experiencing a civil war from 1989 to 2007. Through a series of negative binomial regressions, we find general support for our hypotheses. For the case of the internet, we specifically find that its effects are concentrated in more recent periods when social media became more widespread.¿Por qué y cómo influyen las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en la intensidad de la violencia de los rebeldes? Estudios recientes han demostrado que las TIC pueden tanto aumentar como disminuir dicha violencia. Nosotros sostenemos que, durante las guerras civiles, este efecto depende del tipo de TIC. Los teléfonos móviles proporcionan a los rebeldes una mejor coordinación militar para organizar la violencia. En cambio, Internet aumenta las limitaciones de los grupos rebeldes para utilizar la violencia. Por un lado, Internet aumenta la visibilidad de los grupos rebeldes y los obliga a moderar sus niveles de violencia. Por otro lado, Internet ofrece a los oponentes de los rebeldes mejores herramientas para limitar sus niveles de violencia. Probamos estos dos argumentos empíricamente con datos de panel de la violencia de rebeldes en países en los que hubo una guerra civil entre 1989 y 2007. Mediante una serie de regresiones binomiales negativas, encontramos un apoyo general a nuestras hipótesis. En el caso de Internet, descubrimos específicamente que sus efectos se concentran en los períodos más recientes cuando el uso de las redes sociales se generalizó.Pourquoi et comment les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) façonnent-elles l'intensité de la violence KEYWORDS

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Section: The Internet and Popular Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints and military coordination: How ICTs shape the intensity of rebel violence

Macías-Medellín

Atuesta

2021

International Interactions

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“…For example, the promotion of images of civilians being tortured or assassinated is not only a form of brutal violence, but an element that emphasizes the emotional justification of such acts, and the type of activities that terrorists usually engage with [50]. Even more, in the case of ISIS, it can be observed that the group usually uses violence in order to attract attention and evoke emotions [51].…”

Section: Terrorist Propaganda and The Profile Of The Socio-emotional Intelligent Terroristmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social and Emotional Intelligence as Factors in Terrorist Propaganda: An Analysis of the Way Mass Media Portrays the Behavior of Islamic Terrorist Groups

et al. 2021

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In the era of speed and technology, mass media has an important role in keeping people informed about events happening all around the world, but also in shaping their opinion. One of the main issues that mass-media focuses on is represented by terrorist propaganda. Nowadays, terrorist attacks have become more frequent, and we argue that, due to their social and emotional intelligence, terrorists have the power to manipulate not only people but also mass media. The purpose of our paper was to assess the way Romanian and foreign online mass-media channels present information about Islamic terrorist groups and the activities developed by them, in order to raise awareness about the matter of propaganda and the role of mass media in promoting it. In order to conduct the research, content analysis was used as a method. A total of 36 news presented online by Romanian and foreign mass-media channels were analyzed. The result of the research revealed that Romanian mass-media channels focus more on using words with aggressive content, and that foreign mass-media channels focus on religious and cultural-geographic content. Therefore, the results of the research revealed that the way mass media presents terrorist attacks can unintentionally contribute to the promotion of terrorist propaganda.

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“…Indeed, the Islamic State’s media enterprise itself utilized a wide variety of tactics in an effort to wage war in the information domain, many of which have been the focus of scholarly research (e.g. Colas, 2017; Farwell, 2014; Ingram, 2015; Jadoon and Mahmood, 2017; Lakomy, 2020; Mahood and Rane, 2017; Milton, 2018a; Pennington and Krona, 2019; Winkler et al, 2019; Winter, 2018). However, despite this important research, few scholars have examined the group’s attempts to further its goals through the deliberate use of deception in propaganda, or that of militant organizations more broadly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truth and lies in the Caliphate: The use of deception in Islamic State propaganda

Milton

2020

Media, War & Conflict

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Deception has a long history in information warfare. Recent technological advances have increased the ability of militants to utilize deception in propaganda, but this subject has not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This study remedies this shortcoming by conducting a case study of the Islamic State’s use of deception in propaganda, and identifies three types of deception: substantive, source, and spread. Additionally, this article discusses the rationales under which the group used these deceptive practices. In doing so, it provides a new framework for understanding deception that can be useful in future academic work. The study of deception can also help those fighting against these groups by providing them with a research-based understanding of how and when deception is likely to be used, which will allow them to better calibrate counter-messaging efforts.

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Fatal attraction: explaining variation in the attractiveness of Islamic State propaganda

Cited by 5 publications

References 50 publications

Constraints and military coordination: How ICTs shape the intensity of rebel violence

Constraints and military coordination: How ICTs shape the intensity of rebel violence

Social and Emotional Intelligence as Factors in Terrorist Propaganda: An Analysis of the Way Mass Media Portrays the Behavior of Islamic Terrorist Groups

Truth and lies in the Caliphate: The use of deception in Islamic State propaganda

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