RIYADH: The 4th Industrial Revolution resulted in wars being waged through traditional and social media, turning the media as a whole into a battlefront, said Mohammad Al-Momani, minister of state for media affairs and communications and Jordan government spokesman.
He warned: “Terrorists’ advanced employment of the media and social networking sites is a challenge for us. We must find effective ways to address all segments of society and protect them against extremist content.”
This came during the first meeting of the Defense Ministers of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), held on Sunday in Riyadh under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and under the slogan “Allied against terrorism.”
Al-Momani spoke about the role of media, especially social media, in combating terrorism and extremism, as well as raising awareness and educating people against hate speech that leads to terrorism.
He pointed out that the media’s role is ongoing, it must be comprehensive and should address all segments of society to combat the propaganda produced by terrorist organizations’ media, and produce genuine media content that protects society against extremist thoughts and radical ideologies.
He added: “Terrorist groups have exploited social media to spread their dark ideologies, attract supporters and falsely attribute their extremism to Islam.
“Although terrorist groups have received mega strikes and were defeated in many territories during the past few months, the war is not over yet, especially the media war, which will continue to protect our societies against the dangers of extremist thoughts and strengthen the media as an effective tool for combating terrorism.”
He stressed that Arab and Muslim countries need to intensify coordination and the exchange of experiences and ideas, in addition to building on previous achievements and seeking effective mechanisms for combating terrorism at intellectual and ideological levels and refuting allegations, myths and suspicious ideas that contradict human and religious values and principles.
The Jordanian minister referred to his country’s experience in using the media as a battlefront for fighting terrorism at three main levels, the first of which is the political and professional level, which defines agendas, policies and means of interaction for dealing with all kinds of media in a professional and an open manner to promote and strengthen professional media that seeks only the truth.
The second level is the legal one, which includes laws and regulations that protect societies and establish clear penalties for violations, while the third level is the security level through which the media is monitored for any violations that include hate speech, promoting extremist ideas or recruiting terrorists.
Al-Momani said that there is a real need for raising an enlightened generation that believes in a bright future and does not give in to dark and extremist thoughts.
“Traditional and social media must not be a weakness point through which our enemies destroy our societies, provoke division and fanaticism, create chaos and destabilize our security and stability,” he added.