#Notinmyname campaign sees young Muslims fight IS on social media YOUNG Muslims are taking a stand against IS with a powerful internet campaign. Using the hashtag #notinmyname, they are trying to drown out the terrorists’ message of hatred and violence with one of peace. The project was started by British charity Active Change, and is aimed at showing the world that Islam is about love and forgiveness. Muslim youth from the UK and beyond have rushed to add their voices to the campaign, with tweets and Instagram posts calling IS “un-Islamic” and saying “my religion doesn’t teach hate & murder”. The charity created a video introducing the campaign, in which young Muslims talk about how IS militants are damaging the religion. One says “your actions do not represent the actions of the rightly guided companions (those who interpret the Koran)”. It makes a stark contrast to the videos IS has released on Twitter showing the beheadings of three Westerners.Social networks have become the battleground in the fight against terror. IS is now notorious for using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites to recruit young Muslims and new converts from Western countries. It even created its own app, called Dawn of Glad Tidings, which amplifies its posts by allowing them to be reshared on any platform. These methods allow the extremists to target vulnerable individuals, who may feel marginalised in their community and be potential candidates for radicalisation. The charity hopes the #notinmyname campaign will be a step towards preventing this. It is part of a groundswell of action by citizens angry at being terrorised by IS. The hashtag #No2IS has also been trending on Twitter and others recently set up a Facebook page called Australian Muslim Faces. It documents ordinary people on the street, in a similar vein to “A thousand faces” or “Humans of New York”. but just for Muslims. Creator Rafa said: “The premise is to humanise Muslims, one picture at a time — even if only a teeny tiny bit (by satiating curiosity).” Meanwhile, intelligence agencies are trying to turn the terrorists’ tactics back on them by analysing their social media posts to determine locations and strategies. Can the terrorists be beaten at their own game?
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:25:09 +0000
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