The Internet as Ideological Battleground

Recent global events that have brought to light the use of new technologies by terrorist groups have focused attention on the role of the internet in the radicalisation of vulnerable individuals and groups towards a violent extremism. In 2007, the case of Abdul Basheer, a law graduate in Singapore arrested for attempting to join the Taliban in Afghanistan drew attention to the use of the Internet as a source of inspiration and information for would be terrorists. More recently Sydney man Belal Khazaal became the first person to be convicted on the charge of making a document connected with assisting in a terrorist act after using material already available on the internet to develop his own publication The Rules of Jihad - Short Judicial Rulings and Organisational Instructions For Fighters And Mujahideen Against Infidels . Both cases point to the developing role of the Internet in the process of radicalisation and suggest that the Internet has become an important tactical tool in the terrorists’ repertoire. The role of the Internet in radicalisation and the extent to which it contributes to the process through which latent beliefs translate into violent actions is not fully understood. However, with the developing strand of terrorism studies that deals with the diffusion of intent as an integral component of counter terrorism efforts has come an understanding of terrorism as a battle of words and ideas. Nowhere is this more evident than on the internet

Symbolic Attack Sites and the Performance of Terrorism, Counter Terrorism and Memory

This paper reports on a project that explores how terrorist attack sites become communicative platforms within which three kinds of enactment- the terrorist attack, counter measures by the state and affective public responses- construct narratives and counter narratives about terrorism. This approach is applied in research project that explores the range of meanings that emerge around the site of the 2002 Bali Bombings in Kuta, the political nature of commemoration and the ways in which victims voices become part of the narrative/counter narrative of violent extremism. The conceptual framework applied in this research incorporates performance theory and notions of the audience (government and publics) as narrators in a discourse of contested meanings that are also enacted through the symbolic imagery of the attack site. The findings reported here demonstrate how attack sites become dynamic spaces for the interpretation and reinterpretation of meanings about terrorism embodied in the narratives generated by the performance roles of various actors. These meanings challenge the performative power of the terrorist attacks but also construct counter narratives to official responses to terrorism

An audience-focused approach to examining religious extremism online

Interest in the phenomenon of religion and the Internet extends to the use of the Internet by radical or extremist religious groups. Recent events in international terrorism have led government agencies and the academic community to conclude that the Internet plays a role in the radicalisation of individuals towards extremist violence. The literature on the extremism and radicalisation reflects an acknowledgement, although developing understanding, of the role of the Internet in the process of individual radicalisation towards extremist ideologies. Much of the examination of this phenomenon is conducted through content analysis examining how extremist groups incorporate the use of new media into their recruitment and communication strategies. Motivated by the question of what compels individuals to engage with extremist content on the Internet, this article proposes a different approach to examining the phenomenon of extremism on the Internet: one that mirrors the shift in media research from textual analysis to a focus on the audience and the context of media use. The first half of this article examines how the Internet and social media practices represent a discursive relocation of the Islamic tradition of discussing religious disputes. The second half explores the contemporary context of Muslim audiences and their media needs and relates this to the phenomenon of Internet radicalisation

Veiled threats : recurrent cultural anxieties in Australia

At the end of the nineteenth century, white Australians found themselves in a turbulent and rapidly changing world. As British settlers in a vast, often-perplexing and under-populated continent, they were increasingly aware that they lived in a crowded and predominantly Asian neighbourhood. Their supposedly empty spaces seemed to invite the unwanted attention of hostile outsiders, fertile soil for speculation about vulnerable borders, invasion and violation. It was commonplace of the period for white females to be considered at once particularly vulnerable and also innocent symbols of the new nation. They needed to be protected against Asian males allegedly bent on conquest and violation. It does not follow that these &ldquo;invasion narratives&rdquo;, however persistent, meant that the entire population was disabled by fear and dread, but there is convincing evidence of a deeply embedded cultural anxiety about the destructive possibilities and hostile intentions of Asian outsiders. In this article, the authors examine recent representations of Muslims as hostile outsiders in Australia, focusing in particular on the veil as a marker of female oppression under Islam and a sign of the threat attributed to the Islamic community in Australia. While it would be misleading to propose a simple line of progression from late nineteenth century apprehensions to those a century or more later, there are nonetheless intriguing parallels and recurrent expressions of survivalist anxiety across the period examined in this article. <br /

'Moderate Islam': Defining the Good Citizen

On 23 August 2005, John Howard, then Prime Minister, called together Muslim ‘representatives’ from around the nation for a Muslim Summit in response to the London bombings in July of that year. One of the outcomes of the two hour summit was a Statement of Principles committing Muslim communities in Australia to resist radicalisation and pursue a ‘moderate’ Islam. Since then the ill-defined term ‘moderate Muslim’ has been used in both the political and media discourse to refer to a preferred form of Islamic practice that does not challenge the hegemony of the nation state and that is coherent with the principles of secularism. Akbarzadeh and Smith conclude that the terms ‘moderate’ and ‘mainstream’ are used to describe Muslims whom Australians should not fear in contrast to ‘extremists’. Ironically, the policy direction towards regulating the practice of Islam in Australia in favour of a state defined ‘moderate’ Islam signals an attempt by the state to mediate the practice of religion, undermining the ethos of secularism as it is expressed in the Australian Constitution. It also – arguably – impacts upon the citizenship rights of Australian Muslims in so far as citizenship presents not just as a formal set of rights accorded to an individual but also to democratic participation: the ability of citizens to enjoy those rights at a substantive level. Based on the findings of research into how Australian Muslims and members of the broader community are responding to the political and media discourses on terrorism, this article examines the impact of these discourses on how Muslims are practicing citizenship and re-defining an Australian Muslim identity

Social Implications of Fearing Terrorism. A report on Australian responses to the images

On 20 November 2008, 29 participants came together for the Exploding Media Myths: Misrepresenting Australia Forum at the University of NSW in Sydney. The Forum was designed to bring together keynote speakers, academics, policy makers, the media and community to discuss the findings of an Australian Research Council Discovery Project, Australian Responses to the Images and Discourses of Terrorism and the Other: Establishing a Metric of Fear. Over the course of the day, the participants discussed a range of themes relevant to the media and its representation of Australia and Australian values in the context of increased incidences of vilification against Australian Muslims; a policy focus on social inclusion, citizenship and adherence to Australian values, and heightened levels of fear and anxiety about the state of security and infringements on civil liberties in a post 9/11 world

The Atmosfear of Terror: Affective Modulation and the War on Terror

Since September 11, Muslims in Australia have experienced a heightened level of religiously and racially motivated vilification (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission). These fears were poignantly expressed in a letter to the Editor of The West Australian newspaper from a Muslim woman shortly after the London terror attacks

Examining the Role of Religion in Radicalization to Violent Islamist Extremism

In this article, the authors apply the four-phase radicalization model proposed by Silber and Bhatt1 to a case study of Australia’s first convicted terrorist, Jack Roche, based on communication with Roche after his incarceration and on a qualitative analysis of his trial. In doing so, they examine the validity of the four-phase model to a case of “home grown” terrorism and dissect the role of religion in the radicalization process. To conclude, the authors find that religion plays a far lesser role in radicalization toward violent extremism than the policy response contends and this has implications for counterterrorism programs that aim to address the drivers of violent extremism

UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ADOPTION AND USE OF SOCIAL COMPUTING: A USER-SYSTEM FIT MODEL AND EMPIRICAL STUDY

Social computing, or Web 2.0, is receiving growing attention both in academic research and in practice. Evidence suggests that a rich set of motives entice individuals to use Web 2.0. However, traditional models of IT acceptance generally do not account for these motives, and thus are not particularly adequate to explain the adoption and use of Web 2.0. Indeed, a central construct in many of these models, the ‘usefulness’ construct, exclusively focuses on performance needs. This study makes an effort to provide an improved understanding of Web 2.0 usage by offering two contributions. First, the study reconceptualizes ‘usefulness’ into ‘needs-supplies fit’, a formative construct that taps into a wide spectrum of needs. Second, relying on person-environment fit as its theoretical lens, the study develops and tests a model of user system fit that offers a complementary perspective to current models in further understanding of Web 2.0 use

Use of social media by academic librarians in Iraq

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the nature and extent of the “information gap” in Iraq and explore perspectives on international academic library collaboration using social media that may assist in reducing this gap. The study investigates the information gap in Iraq in the context of the country's recent history of political and social upheaval. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses qualitative data collected through interviews with academic library managers, librarians and researchers in both Australia and Iraq. Findings – The findings demonstrate that currently academic librarians in Iraq and Australia use social media differently. The degradation of critical research infrastructure and reliable communication means that Iraqi librarians rely heavily on informal communication channels. The study finds that use of social media offers will enhance collaboration by Iraqi academic librarians and reduce the information gap. Research limitations/implications – There are some limitations in terms of selection sampling, approaching Iraqi participants and average quality of connections. It is suggested that snowballing and chain sampling should be used. Social implications – The ethical challenges that are faced by the Iraqi community with social cultural systems are in the early stages of valuing higher education and a scholarly communication system based on unfamiliar models. Originality/value – This study represents the first attempt to assess the information gap that exists in the wake of recent political and social upheaval, and to explore ways in which Iraqi librarians use social media to redress this gap