Michael Krona: The media world of ISIS – Post-caliphate media strategies and digital expansion of terrorism

Welcome to a K3 seminar with Michael Krona, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies, K3

The title of the seminar is The media world of ISIS – Post-caliphate media strategies and digital expansion of terrorism.

This will be an online seminar, carried out through Zoom, and it will take place on Wednesday, September 30 at 10.15-12.00. Please join here:

https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/63267841499?pwd=SU9YaE9MVEJRdnlQT05NbDRjajgxdz09 (please note that the link has been changed from previous announcements)

Below you will find an abstract for the talk:

Abstract:

Since 2014 and the declaration of the proto-state caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) has received not only international political- and media attention, but also maintained a strong online presence with the help of devoted supporter networks around the globe. These networks have been and are still essential in ISIS modus operandi, as they amplify the brand, help recruit and further propagate the ideological framework of Salafi-jihadism under which ISIS continues to operate.

In 2018 the caliphate dissolved in its original form, and since then a post-caliphate era has emerged in which ISIS has transformed into a social movement using guerrilla tactics to promote ideology and inspire attacks. A key element in this transformation is the use of encrypted platforms online for galvanised supporters to disseminate propaganda and act as ‘media mujahideen’ in ISIS hybrid warfare.

Strategies on these platforms are vast and innovative, and considering the success of ISIS and its supporters in maintaining such a strong presence and outreach of messaging in online spaces, the aforementioned transformation is interesting to mirror through the lens of propaganda and participatory engagement online by supporters. I will therefore present findings and empirical examples of the role of online spaces and supporters in ISIS current transformation and expansion – as an illustration of the rapid development in how contemporary terrorist organisations deliberately and strategically use media platforms and supporter networks as weapons in information warfare.

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