How to counter the strategies of extremist groups

Nicolas Hamelin offers a take on "marketing strategies" used by terrorist groups

ISIL recruiters know how to target disaffected youths. Reuters

Terror attacks are increasing in number. In the past few weeks we have had bombings across Belgium, Iraq, Nigeria, Turkey and Pakistan, to name but a few.

One thing that is clear about the groups behind these attacks is that their recruiting strategies are alarmingly effective.

Militant groups are able to understand their target audience and their specific need and motive structure.

With this knowledge and the incorporation of both online and offline marketing tactics, militant groups have managed to recruit extensively in North Africa, Europe and Asia.

A study conducted in North Africa, based on a sample of 2,000 people, showed that 13.5 per cent of the sample – both women, and men – would consider armed resistance.

These are young people, generally around 20. These people are either unemployed or in temporary employment.

Most of them have lost faith in their government due to factors like corruption, and economic and political instability. They have little knowledge of Islam. They feel that they no longer belong to a country, but to a religion, and that this religion is under threat and needs to be defended. This, of course, is a completely false interpretation of what Islam is.

They have no hope and no trust in their government, which they perceive as corrupt.

They would go to whoever gives them a leeway or something to do. And in this case, the militant groups have been able to fill that void.

In North Africa, ISIL offers around $700 (Dh2,570) per person as an incentive. They also give them the chance to participate in creating an “uncorrupted Islamic state”.

What groups such as ISIL are doing through social media is a two-stage process where during the first stage they will convince their audience that a Muslim is above all a Muslim and does not belong to a specific nation such as Libya, Morocco or Algeria.

In the second stage – through showing unbearable images of cruelty taking place in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan – they seek to illustrate that Islam as a religion is under attack and needs to be defended. There is also a lot of propaganda about how great an experience it is to live under ISIL rule.

Very often women are the target of these campaigns, which show that women are allowed freedom. ISIL taps into their desire for adventure and some sort of freedom away from the restrictions of family.

What you see on television is short, crisp and clean and does not dwell on the details of what exactly is happening on the ground.

The role of self-censorship by some television networks has prevented people from seeing the truth. Hence credibility in broadcast media has slipped.

In contrast, social media has so far been completely uncensored. Videos from conflict zones are constantly being uploaded and shared.

These videos show the real nature of war and all its collaterals.

There is a recurrent plot: images of civilian casualties, often children falling under the fire of heavily armed western superpowers and their allies.

Sadly, these images are often an accurate representation of the live reality on the ground for most people living in these conflict zones.

I am not an advocate of censorship. How would you feel, for instance, if censorship prevented your child from telling you that they were being bullied?

There is a need to counter these images. This involves things such as NGOs on the ground helping out, schools being built and people being cured – showing that it is not all war and blood after all. Most importantly, religious authorities should embrace social media and make it their primary mission to convey the fundamentally peaceful message of Islam.

Dr Nicolas Hamelin is an associate professor of marketing at S P Jain School of Global Management