Roles of the Internet and Social Media in Radicalization and Extremism Propaganda From 2010 Until Present

Radicalization and extremist propaganda proliferation over the Internet and social media remain a global threat, despite the counter-radicalization efforts to tackle the issue. Previous research on radicalization and extremism propaganda usually focused on social media and the Internet application in fostering radicalization, however, there is little work being done in exploring the roles that the Internet and social media play in radicalization, including the challenges in addressing the issue itself. This study analysed the roles ofthe Internet and social media in radicalization and extremism propaganda and the reasons why radical and extremist groups used the Internet and social media to extend their ideologies and propaganda. This study argues that the Internet and social media play a significant role in radicalization and extremism propaganda proliferation confounded by the challenges in impeding radicalization have significantly influenced radicalization and hampered the efforts to solve the issues. This study has three objectives where the first is to identify the roles of the Internet and social media in radicalization and extremism propaganda; second, to explore the reasons the Internet and social media are used by radical and extremist propaganda in the effort to spread their ideologies and propaganda and; third is to analyse the challenges to counter radicalization of extremism propaganda via the Internet and social media. Conceptual framework is used to analyse the themes which structured the research objectives and qualitative method is used where detailed observation and analysis of data are conducted over the empirical data from primary and secondary sources such as interviews, and reliable printed and online sources. The findings of this study indicated that the Internet and social media play an increasingly crucial role in the radicalization and proliferation of extremist propaganda online. Internet and social media facilitate and accelerate radicalization, increasing opportunities for self-radicalization where the extremist and terrorist groups utilize the technology for psychological warfare, recruitment, mobilization, networking, data mining and also for information sharing. Ultimately, government and enforcement agencies are facing various challenges in impeding radicalization such as the technology itself, lack of transparency between policymakers and technology companies, the ineffectiveness of counter-narrative efforts and infringements of human rights and freedom of speech in legislation and policy enforcement.

Radikalisme dan penyebaran propaganda ekstremis melalui Internet dan media sosial merupakan ancaman kepada global, walaupun terdapatnya usaha-usaha mengekang penularan radikalisme ini. Kajian terdahulu berkaitan radikalisme dan propaganda ekstremis lebih memfokus kepada aplikasi Internet dan media sosial dalam radikalisme, namun usaha mengkaji mengenai peranan Internet dan media sosial dalam radikalisme termasuk cabaran dalam usaha menangani isu ini masih kurang dilaksanakan. Kajian ini bertujuan menganalisa peranan Internet dan media sosial dalam radikalisme mahupun penyebaran propaganda ekstremis serta tujuan kumpulan ekstremis dan radikal menggunakan teknologi ini dalam usaha penyebaran ideologi seterusnya propaganda mereka. Kajian ini menyatakan bahawa Internet dan media sosial memainkan peranan yang signifikan dalam radikalisme dan penyebaran propaganda ekstremis serta cabaran yang dihadapi dalam usaha menangani isu ini telah meningkatkan lagi implikasi radikalisme dan mengekang usaha penularan radikalisme. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti peranan Internet dan media sosial dalam radikalisme serta penyebaran propaganda ekstremis; mengkaji tujuan kumpulan ekstremis dan radikal dalam menggunakan Internet dan media sosial; serta menganalisa cabaran dalam menangani radikalisme dan penyebaran propaganda ekstremis di dalam Internet dan media sosial. Kajian ini mendapati Internet dan media sosial telah memainkan peranan yang signifikan serta kritikal dalam isu radikalisme mahupun penyebaran propaganda ekstremis dalam talian. Internet dan media sosial telah memudahcara serta meningkatkan peluang untuk radikalisme secara kendiri di mana kumpulan ekstremis dan propaganda telah menggunakan teknologi tersebut bagi tujuan peperangan psikologi, pengambilan ahli-ahli baru, mobilisasi, peningkatan rangkaian serta perkongsian maklumat. Keadaan ini semakin sulit apabila usaha kerajaan mahupun penguatkuasa berhadapan dengan masalah pelanggaran hak asasi manusia dan kebebasan bersuara, serta kurangnya ketelusan di antara kerajaan mahupun organisasi teknologi.