Thursday, November 30, 2017

Peaceful Coexistence Conference


I will be participating in this event, giving a short panel panel on anti-Muslim rhetoric online. 

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos (updated)

NY Times, Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos, and Britain’s Leader Condemns Them "President Trump shared videos supposedly portraying Muslims committing acts of violence on Twitter early Wednesday morning, images that are likely to fuel anti-Islam sentiments popular among the president’s political base in the United States and prompted the office of Britain’s prime minister to issue a statement condemning the tweets."

Also see Talal Ansari, Buzzfeed, Here's Where That False Anti-Muslim Video Trump Retweeted Came From " The video, which depicts an attack by a Dutch teen on another Dutch teen, was first picked up by anti-Muslim activists in May. It has circulated through pro-Trump Twitter accounts, Reddit, Alex Jones' website Prison Planet, and the website of an anti-Muslim crusader — before being retweeted by the president of the United States."

Sky News, Sadiq Khan blasts back at Donald Trump after anti-Muslim video tweets  

Martijn, Lies, reductions and authority – Some background on the hate tweets of @JaydaBF and @realDonaldTrump

BBC News, Trump hits out at UK PM Theresa May after far-right video tweets

Elizabeth Poole, Eva Giraud, Ed de Quincey, Anti-Muslim propaganda on Twitter and the role of the far right

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Taliban's massive social media presence that's being ignored

Austin Bodetti, alaraby, The Taliban's massive social media presence that's being ignored, 22 Nov 2017 "The insurgents have employed social media for more creative purposes, creating Facebook profiles of attractive women to trick Western soldiers into disclosing intelligence. Their affiliates in Pakistan even tried to recruit propagandists for an online magazine through a Facebook page." I have written about this phenomenon in the past, and have something in my next book relating to the Taliban.

Outrage against Saudi Arabia as Israeli blogger posts selfies from Prophet's Mosque in Medina

alaraby, Outrage against Saudi Arabia as Israeli blogger posts selfies from Prophet's Mosque in Medina, 21 Nov 2017 "Images posted by an Israeli blogger inside the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in the Muslim holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia sparked outrage across the region this week over what many said was the religious insensitivity and double standards of Saudi authorities."

Hackers Fought ISIS With Porn

Gareth Browne, The Daily Beast, Hackers Fought ISIS With Porn, 21 Nov 2017 "Given the dangers they face, the six people who make up the little group calling itself, with conscious irony, “Daeshgram”—its name melding the Arabic acronym for ISIS and Instagram—are forced to live something resembling double lives." Recommended

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov defended by mother

BBC News, New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov defended by mother "The BBC's Will Vernon tracked her down in Uzbekistan, the country that was home to terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov until 2010 when he moved to the US." Excellent report.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Cardiff terror accused's IS search 'was out of curiosity'

BBC News, Cardiff terror accused's IS search 'was out of curiosity', 20 Nov 2017 "A teenager accused of planning a terror attack in Cardiff has claimed he searched online for so-called Islamic State material out of curiosity."

Understanding Islam...With Books

Publishers Weekly, Understanding Islam...With Books includes reference to my next book (out 2018)

IS-related investigation in Minnesota

Star Tribune, Father, hacker and jujitsu instructor among Minnesotans under investigation for ISIS ties Interesting in its discussion on ongoing investigations, which have an online element.

Terrorism, radicalisation and Islam: Michel Wieviorka in conversation with Marc Sageman

The Conversation, Terrorism, radicalisation and Islam: Michel Wieviorka in conversation with Marc Sageman one for the reading list

New report on Russian-speaking Foreign Fighters

Crest Research, New report on Russian-speaking Foreign Fighters "Existing data on Russian-speaking groups and individuals linked to the Islamic State is often inaccurate, according to CREST Researcher Cerwyn Moore and ESRC-funded PhD Student Mark Youngman. They have released a substantive report on Russian-speaking foreign fighters and Islamic State’s influence in the North Caucasus."

Friday, November 17, 2017

Al-Qaeda's revised recruitment strategy for India: Go vernacular, reach larger audience

"Times Now, Al-Qaeda's revised recruitment strategy for India: Go vernacular, reach larger audience, 17 Nov 2017 "In a bid to expand its reach in India and to recruit more followers in the country, the Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent has begun to publish online material in three vernacular languages, namely Tamil, Bengali and Hindi, with speeches and articles by jihadists being translated in these three languages, the Indian Express reported."

Thursday, November 16, 2017

"That’s not a Hadith. That’s Tupac."

Rayana Khalaf, Stepfeed, This Muslim sheikh's tweets about frequent questions will crack you up - "That’s not a Hadith. That’s Tupac." "While Muslim clerics and preachers are often thought of as characteristically serious and stern, this Florida-based lecturer is all about humor, especially on social media."

Tweeting the Qur'an

While you might want to ignore some of the inevitable discussion associated with this Reddit post, the graphic is interesting for those of us studying digital Islamic issues. I haven't explored the maths on this. I discuss Twitter and the Qur'an in my next book:

idarwishman, Reddit, 96% of the Quran is now tweetable with the new 280 character limit (inspired by the tweetable Bible graph) [OC], 15 Nov 2017

Monday, November 13, 2017

In ‘Watershed Moment,’ YouTube Blocks Extremist Cleric’s Message

New York Times, In ‘Watershed Moment,’ YouTube Blocks Extremist Cleric’s Message "Now, under growing pressure from governments and counterterrorism advocates, YouTube has drastically reduced its video archive of Mr. Awlaki, an American cleric who remains the leading English-language jihadist recruiter on the internet six years after he was killed by a United States drone strike. Using video fingerprinting technology, YouTube now flags his videos automatically and human reviewers block most of them before anyone sees them, company officials say." Widely available elsewhere, however.

Russian Bot

Metro, Man who shared image of Muslim ‘ignoring Westminster victims’ was a Russian bot

A Muslim YouTuber on the biggest misconception about her sex life

Independent, A Muslim YouTuber on the biggest misconception about her sex life "A London-based vlogger is debunking the myths surrounding Muslim women and dating."

Viral from Java

Friday, November 03, 2017

Opinion and Analysis: Saudi’s ‘Reforms’

Atlantic Council, Saudi’s ‘Reforms’: Interview with Dr. H.A. Hellyer "The Saudi Arabian Crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, recently declared that the kingdom sought a ‘return’ to the ‘moderate Islam’ of pre-1979. The international media understandably paid a great deal of attention—but how significant is this? Martin Chulov, the Guardian’s Middle East Correspondent, asked our non-resident senior fellow, Dr HA Hellyer, some questions about it ..." 

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Allegations: 'Facebook Silences Rohingya Reports of Ethnic Cleansing'

Betsy Woodruff, Daily Beast, Exclusive: Facebook Silences Rohingya Reports of Ethnic Cleansing "The social network says it’s committed to helping the world ‘share their stories.’ But when people from Burma’s oppressed minority post, their stories have a habit of disappearing."

#WeNeedToTalk campaign

alaraby, Egypt's #WeNeedToTalk campaign backfires as thousands condemn Sisi's countless human rights violations "Some used the hashtag to highlight the plight of thousands of young leaders detained for mere social and political activism, while others focused on the names of those killed by security forces for no apparent reason." The hashtag #WeNeedToTalk is here

Footage shows New York attack suspect

BBC News, Footage shows New York attack suspect, 31 Oct 2017

Online dating couple 'plotted bombing'

BBC News, Online dating couple 'plotted bombing', 30 Oct 2017 "After meeting on dating site singlemuslim.com, the pair "rapidly formed emotional attachment and a shared ideology", the prosecution said."