On Tuesday, November 29, 2022, the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) organized a media symposium with the theme "The Role of Media Outlets in Countering Terrorism" at its headquarters in Riyadh. The symposium brought together both civil and military media and communications specialists from across the IMCTC member countries.
The symposium featured keynote speakers including Dr. Ibrahim Zakariyya Moosa, Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Maldives, who touched on the communications strategies for raising awareness about the dangers of terrorism and extremism.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mohamed Rahman Swaray, Information and Communication Minister from the Republic of Sierra Leone, addressed the use of social media platforms in curbing the spread of extremism.
On the other hand, Dr. Amr El-Leithy, Director General of the OIC Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU), explored the connection between the new media and terrorism activities.
Dr. Fayez Al-Shehri, member of the Saudi Shura Council, moderated the session.
Highlighting the role of media in countering terrorism, Dr. Ibrahim Zakariyya Moosa pointed out that "any terrorist attack claimed by extremist groups is a form of communication in itself, to prove their false strength. He added that media outlets attach a great deal of attention to to news of violent nature. Therefore, media outlets should exercise caution before writing any headline of violent activity in order to deny them the opportunity of realizing the terrorists’ objectives in taking advantage of the media in transmitting their violent propaganda messages.
Further, Mr. Mohamed Rahman Swaray pointed out that hate speech fuels conflict and often leads undermines peace, social cohesion, drives intolerance and hatred. He added that social media platform pose a double-edged sword that cannot be underestimated, either in peace building or in protecting communities from their abuse.
For his part, Dr. Amr El-Leithy pointed out that "Modern terrorism is a communication focused terrorism since media outlets typically tend to get attracted to terrorist extreme acts, not only as part of their duty to report on every major event, but also because the drama of terrorism attracts a great deal of attention, at the same time."
Closing the symposium, IMCTC Secretary General, Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi, affirmed that the symposium strives to lay the groundwork for devising a unified communications narrative against terrorism, extremism. He further added that IMCTC member countries seek to lay out a roadmap for identifying terrorism evolving techniques and tools in order to eliminate it at the communications battlefield throughout the Muslim countries and the world at large.
Maj. Gen. Al-Moghedi highlighted the extent of suffering incurred by Islamic and international community due to the plague of terrorism and extremism, of which Islam has nothing to do with. He concluded his remarks by pointing out the gravity of the material and psychological harm caused by this scourge.
The symposium is part of a series of symposia, presentations, and workshops organized by IMCTC to exchange international experiences in countering terrorism and extremism. It further strives to strengthen the level of coordination and cooperation, as well as to deepen discussions across media, ideology and cultural sectors in order to arrive at effective solutions that help in countering terrorism across the communications, ideology arenas and to come up with recommendations addressing communications and ideology domains in countering terrorism.
