Note: The views and opinions expressed in blog/editorial posts are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of Misbar.
The video clip released by IS from the heart of the al-Sana'a prison in the Syrian city of Al-Hasakah has resurfaced on Saturday, Jan 23, as though it was released from the extremist group’s allegedly recently-controlled Gweiran prison. This manipulation raises questions about radical groups’ use of media platforms to promote their activities and ideology. It also equally raises questions about the tools used by these groups to achieve their propaganda.
Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, defined propaganda as the art of the big lie. Although the art of propaganda was well known in the twentieth century, the term propaganda was not adopted until 1962. In this context, propaganda meant expansion or exaggeration. It was used for the first time to describe the means of persuasion adopted during World War I and used by some political regimes later.
Laszlo Küntler argued that propaganda attempts to impose a dominant ideological supremacy (Thaithe and Thorne 1999: 14). However, Leonard W. Dobb, in turn, defined it in 1948 as an attempt to influence personalities and control the behavior of individuals in the service of ends that are considered unscientific, or of no or questionable value, in a specific society and at a particular time.
Propaganda can also be classified into three different types: white, black, and gray. White propaganda has an origin that is “clearly labeled” and one that has a “transparent purpose.” Black propaganda indicates “information put out by an opposing government or institution and made to look as though it came from a friendly source.” Finally, gray propaganda is “information of questionable origin that is never sourced and whose accuracy is doubtful.
What kind of propaganda has ISIS used since its inception until today? And how did the organization use it to amplify its role, spread its ideology, and influence the behavior of those on its receiving end? Most importantly, what purposes does propaganda serve? Does it have much in common with authoritarian regimes in this context? And what role did it play and is still playing in falsifying facts and truths?
IS ideology
Since its emergence in 2014, IS has relied on media platforms for more than one purpose. It was necessary for it to draw attention to the suicide bombings carried out by some of its affiliates and to spread terror among the populations residing within its areas of influence to ensure their obedience, in addition to its constant attempts to recruit fighters among its ranks.
How did IS employ media platforms to serve these goals?
IS resorted to the media to spread its message. It did so as part of a well-studied strategy to serve this purpose. Al-Hayat Media Center was IS’s media arm, which published a digital newsletter under the name Dabiq. The media center was responsible for spreading propaganda directed at Western countries in particular. On July 5, 2014, the center issued the first official Dabiq magazine. Dabiq magazine was sold on Amazon until the site removed the ad in June 2015.
IS has an official media organizational structure, embodied in its establishment of a ministry of information, which is a virtual body that manages effective media outlets on the internet. IS leaders rejected the idea of establishing the ministry on the ground, fearing that U.S. raids or the Iraqi army would target it. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the organization leader at the time, also put an initial budget of about one million dollars for the establishment of the virtual ministry of information. One of its purposes was to grant permissions to its fighters to give media statements because it did not allow anyone to make statements without obtaining permission from the ministry of information. The organization forces everyone that lives under their jurisdiction to follow any updates made exclusively by its own media outlets.
Media experts have also studied IS’s media machine as well as its photography techniques, viewing angles, and image quality. These experts point out that the visual content promoted by IS is evidence that the extremist group had specialists in this field among its elements. Researchers also resorted to analyzing many videos published by the group during the past years, questioning their authenticity and the use of Photoshop for various purposes.
The video clip, which was recently circulated from inside al-Hasakah prison, comes to re-discuss the media role of IS after it has gone relatively quiet since its last defeats in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared on Monday, Jan. 24, that the video that resurfaced recently was not taken recently but from an earlier video.
It is clear that ISIS continues to use propaganda again, regardless of the authenticity of the video clip, which is difficult to verify. But it is undoubtedly propagandistic.
In the end, the role of media education is important to confront these campaigns aimed at both attracting and intimidating the public.
This article is written by Kafaa Msaed.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
Sources
