Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf : The Alt-Right in Pakistan

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid, The Nation, PTI: The Alt-Right in Pakistan, 21 Nov 2016 "The Alt-Right flourishes in online forums like 4chan or Reddit and has snowballed on Twitter. The movement’s archetypal adherent relishes online anonymity to engage in social media meme warfare, exhibiting supremacism, populism, conspiracism and masculinism – basically the sketch of the infamous PTI troll."

This Muslim Teen Had A Sublime Rebuttal To A Classmate Asking Her To Defend Her Religion

aplus.com, This Muslim Teen Had A Sublime Rebuttal To A Classmate Asking Her To Defend Her Religion "Recently in one of her classes, Hashmi was confronted by another student who asked why Muslims did not condemn violence when perpetrators committed such acts in the name of Islam. Of course we do, she responded, but the conversation kept going in circles, leaving the both of them equally frustrated.



"So Hashmi decided that she had had enough. At home, she dug deep into the corners of the internet and created an extensive, painstakingly organized list of Muslim figures who condemned violent acts committed in the name of Islam."

The 5 Worst Places To Be An Internet User In Southeast Asia

forbes.com, The 5 Worst Places To Be An Internet User In Southeast Asia  "Freedom House, a U.S.-based NGO/research organization, released their annual Freedom of the Net report last week, and overall the results were not good."

Authorities: Times Square cited in Islamic State group case

wtnh.com, Authorities: Times Square cited in Islamic State group case

NIA starts removing Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation's online contents

newindianexpress.com, NIA starts removing Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation's online contents

Monday, November 21, 2016

ISIS Twitter Guide

Jerusalem Post, ISIS publishes a ‘how to’ outfox Twitter guide "The terrorist entity has published a guide on how to outfox Twitter’s efforts, according to an advance copy of a report by the Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group of IDC’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism obtained by The Jerusalem Post."

Jakarta's social media

Guardian, Welcome to Twitter city: is there no limit to Jakarta's social media obsession?, 21 Nov 2016 "The predilection for humour has led to an equally ubiquitous habit: an obsession with social media. There are about 80 million social media users in Indonesia, and the country is among the biggest users of Facebook and Twitter worldwide."

Get good guys to fight ISIS online

straitstimes.com, Get good guys to fight ISIS online "So while ISIS is slowly ceding its territory in the Middle East, on the Internet, it is spreading its tentacles far and wide, an Insight round-table discussion heard."

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Social media and internet link to radicalism is overstated, finds study

Social media and internet link to radicalism is overstated, finds study - Economic and Social Research Council "Government initiatives aimed at preventing extremism, particularly amongst young Muslims, assume that the internet and social media are the main way in which young people are being radicalised.



"However this new study 'Social Media and Political Attitudes' challenges this assumption, showing that internet and social media use are not strongly or consistently associated with radical intentions."

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

'True religion:' How Salafists lure supporters

DW.com, 'True religion:' How Salafists lure supporters | NRS-Import | 15 Nov 16 ""Islam is presented as though it is all about violence, hate, forced marriage and terror" - that's how a video on the internet site of the "True Religion" group starts off. Now banned by the German Interior Ministry, the organization was founded by Ibrahim Abou Nagie, a German Muslim with a Palestinian background."

From WhatsApp to Hawala, How the Taliban Moves Money Around

motherboard.vice.com, From WhatsApp to Hawala, How the Taliban Moves Money Around "The Taliban has been trying to fundraise on the internet longer than Afghanistan’s current government has existed. In recent years, however, the insurgents have turned to internet messaging platforms secured by end-to-end encryption, such as Telegram, Viber, and WhatsApp, to solicit donations."

Studying Islam in practice

Review by Ron Geaves of Studying Islam in practice, edited by Gabriele Marranci, London, Routledge, 2014. Review in British Journal of Religious Education 37, no. 2 (2015): 211-14. I have a chapter in this book.

Founders’ Day

UWTSD celebrates Founders’ Day (Press Release), 14 Nov 2016 "As the oldest degree-awarding institution in England and Wales after the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, UWTSD is immensely proud of its heritage and looks forward to celebrating the birthday of its founder - Bishop Thomas Burgess – with a lecture given by the University’s Professor Gary Bunt."

Friday, November 04, 2016

The ‘Caliph’ Speaks

Graeme Wood, theatlantic.com, The ‘Caliph’ Speaks "For months now, Islamic State supporters have likened the coming battle for Mosul to the battle between Muhammad and the Ahzab. Baghdadi’s speech is the most prominent document to make the analogy. (I have seen it previously in individuals’ posts on Telegram, the Islamic State’s current favorite messaging app.) Those eager to see parallels between the present and the past, and take from them confidence that the Islamic State will prevail just as Muhammad did, will find them in abundance." Interesting piece by Graeme Wood

Alt-Right trolls argue for hours with Twitter bot

boingboing.net, Alt-Right trolls argue for hours with Twitter bot

Turkey blocks social media

turkeyblocks.org, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp shutdown in Turkey

Source: @TurkeyBlocks

also see:

ZDNet, Turkey blocks WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter across the country

Independent, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more down in Turkey in apparent internet ban "Turkey Blocks, a website that tracks issues with the internet in Turkey, claimed that web traffic including that for WhatsApp was subject to throttling, where connections are slowed down to the point they are unusable. It claimed that the internet ban was related to the arrest of some political activists the night before the outage went into effect."

Khizr Khan and the Presidential Election Mark a Muslim Moment in American History

huffingtonpost.com, Khizr Khan and the Presidential Election Mark a Muslim Moment in American History

MuslimGirl - the book

bustle.com, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh's Memoir 'Muslim Girl' Details Her Coming-Of-Age Experience In Post-9/11 America "When Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was 17, she started a blog called MuslimGirl, which has now grown into a full website and a revolutionary force in the media."

Two main IS obsessions: beards and concubines

kuwaittimes.net, Two main IS obsessions: beards and concubines "After Islamic State conquered villages in northern Iraq, it spelled out in minute detail the rules of its self-proclaimed caliphate, from beard length to alms to guidelines for taking women as sex slaves. Islamic State documents and posters, obtained in villages captured by Iraqi forces, highlight a tight and comprehensive system of rule by the militants, who went to great lengths to explain their extremist philosophy."

'Inspire' and other magazines

strategypage.com, Information Warfare: Deadly Demographics Doom Online Magazines " Resurgence and Al Somood appealed to a specific audience (Somali, Afghan and Pakistani expatriates in English speaking countries) to mainly obtain recruits for al Shabaab and the Taliban. All three of these publications attracted a lot of attention from the mass media and politicians but otherwise were ineffective. For example not a lot of captured Islamic terrorists note these magazines as being an influence on them. The same pattern was found when analyzing online “chatter” among active Islamic terrorists. Some Islamic terrorist groups noted this and tried to adapt." Opinoin about the 'effectiveness' of Inspire and other magazines.

Africa Should Brace for Influx of Islamic State Jihadists - opinion

Iban Bantu, allafrica.com, Africa Should Brace for Influx of Islamic State Jihadists, 4 Nov 2016 "IS has managed to knit together a network that stretches from Aleppo in Syria to Abuja, with Libyan borders as the perfect launch pads for regional attacks. That IS is seeking sanctuary in Africa is not a dream, it is a reality." Opinion piece

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

BBC Arabic - Shame

BBC Arabic - Shame includes The No. 1 Saudi Ladies Mobile Phone Shop

Cell phone analysis

dailycaller.com, Autopsies On Dead ISIS Fighters More About Cell Phones Than Blood And Guts "More than 120,000 documents and nearly 20 terabytes of digital information were recovered in August when U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces recaptured Manbij, an ISIS stronghold in northern Syria."

This is Islamic State’s instant messaging app of choice

cmp.com, This is Islamic State’s instant messaging app of choice "For the Islamic State’s top Southeast Asian propagandist Bahrun Naim, the ultra-secure instant messaging app Telegram is a godsend as popular social networks Twitter and Facebook race to weed out web-savvy militants like him."

In Opinion: ISIS defeats cause collapse of online propaganda

Newsweek, In Opinion: ISIS defeats cause collapse of online propaganda "Military advances against territory held by the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria have produced a welcome byproduct: a marked decline by 70 to 80 percent in the output of social media propaganda by the group." Refers to RAND, Examining ISIS Support and Opposition Networks on Twitter

Facebook post mocking Islamic holy site sparks violence in Bangladesh

foxnews.com, Facebook post mocking Islamic holy site sparks violence in Bangladesh

Ghana’s Islamic online radio

Meet the Economics graduate who is CEO of Ghana’s Islamic online radio | Africanews "GH Islamic Radio (GIR) is an online radio that makes it easy for people all over the world to listen LIVE, to Islamic events, lectures, friday sermons etc. in the comfort of their home via the internet.

"People can listen via their website [islamicradiogh.com] and android App – fully created and managed by Shaibu – and is available for free on Google Play Store."