SOCIAL MEDIA :A CONDUIT FOR VIOLENCE

The drastic advances in digital and communication technologies have acted as the pillars of our modern society, by governing the dynamics of cyberspace and providing endless opportunities for connecting people via deflating concepts such as time and distance. Alongside with the Internet, mass media and social media outlets have facilitated the processes of globalization, removing any previously perceived geographical barriers. Yet, the very same mechanisms, which have transformed our community and have catalyzed socio-economic and political movements, have also been recognized by terrorist organizations and exploited in the pursuit of their objectives. From the expansion of extremist groups and their worldwide recruitment policies, it has become evident that the threat of terrorism is not restricted to its region of origin anymore. The mass use of Internet and social media has obscured the borders of extremism and has imposed an undeniable menace to global peace. Modern technologies have moved forward groups’ objectives and accelerated the process of radicalization. Information sharing has assisted in the dissemination of extremist beliefs across the globe at a faster pace and has appeared as an important tool in the radicalization of individuals and their subsequent recruitment as terrorists. Owing to the accessibility, availability, affordability, and wide reach of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram, terrorist organizations have progressively taken advantage of these platforms to convey their agenda and achieve their goals. PARTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA. Two parts ‘Social and Media’. The ‘Social’ refers to interacting with other people by sharing information with them and receiving information from them. ‘Media’ refers to an instrument of communication, like the internet (while Television, radio, and newspapers are examples of more traditional forms of media) and defined social media in general as the web-based communication tool allowing its  users  to  interact   with   one   another   by   both   receiving   and   sharing   information. Social media serves the people to convey their implicit thoughts all over the world with the availability of interactivity and immediacy features. It gives the power to its users to express gently their implicit opinions, but in its real time the connectivity on social networking sites makes the implicit extremely explicit Social media is the online platform   where   users   from   all   over   the    world    present    their    opinion  with its participatory and interactivity feature. It is the medium that enables users to communicate within online platform. Widely used social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and other chatting applications. With its features like openness, participation and interactivity users worldwide took these sites as a medium to express freely by commenting, uploading and sharing their views in the form of text messages, photographs, and video or audio clips .Social media is emerging as the most vital tool of communication equipped with the ability to share information, opinions, connecting people globally and tool of active participation. It refers to the means of interaction among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks i. With the availability of social networking sites and applications, users can create highly interactive platforms where they can share, co-create, discuss, and modify user- generated content or the online content already available there.SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON.Social media has proven to be the most effective weapon of the new militancy. Militants no longer need to use coercive means to get some column space in the press, as they did in the 1990s. Today, hundreds and thousands of militancy pictures and videos are on social media sites every single day. New content is published frequently through encrypted platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, e.g. dying declarations of militants trapped in an encounter; their last phone call conversations with friends, family or even security officials; videos of training in the jungles of South Kashmir; selfies showing bonhomie amongst the cadre; pictures of militants playing cricket in the open fields of the Valley. Such content—consumed mostly by young Kashmiris— has flooded the popular culture of J&K. The new militants use this content to spread the call of jihad and  inspire the youth  to join  their ranks. In December 2015, LeT Chief Hafeez Sayeed launched its cyber cell, taking inspiration from ISIS. The intent was to propagate the group’s ideology and propaganda, and it managed to stoke   prolonged  unrest  in  the  Valley. When Zakir Musa dissented against HM through the summer of 2017 and launched a rival group by pulling out some cadre from other outfits, the drama unfolded in virtual space. His group failed to attract any significant support, only a paltry half-a-dozen recruits. However, the power of social media led to chants of “Musa, Musa, Zakir Musa” on the streets of Kashmir. Without social media, the emergence of new militancy and gun culture might not have been possible. Most importantly, the public support that a few hundred untrained militants galvanised would have been impossible. In April 2017, Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) issued multiple advertisements announcing social media workshops. The handouts sought volunteers for a training programme designed to instigate another unrest in the Valley. One digital poster read: “Join #SocialMedia workshops to know Social Media as an instrument for Kashmir uprise 2k17, an advertisement by Cyber Team JuD North Punjab.” The poster blatantly called this workshop a means for hybrid warfare and declared social media as the new battleground. After the workshops were conducted in multiple cities of Pakistan, hundreds of WhatsApp groups emerged, with members predominantly from the local population in J&K. Weblinks to join these groups were put out by JuD on its website, on Twitter and other social media platforms. While some were operating with the JuD name, others masqueraded as newsgroups; many of the admins used Pakistan mobile A video of 16-year-old Fardeen Khanday calling for jihad, released after his death in a fidayeen attack on 1 January 2018, led to a new crop of recruits for JeM. It is possible that the Pulwama suicide bomber followed the path of Fardeen after watching his video. Ahead of the Republic Day celebrations in 2018, a video appeared on social media showing the principal of a school in Pulwama pleading before a man holding an AK-47 weapon. The video was released to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations in South Kashmir by issuing a message to the youth participating in the parade. In the video, the principal pleads for mercy and promises to keep the students of his school away from the parade. Such a warning was not a new tactic, but the power of social media made this video viral and available on every smartphone, instilling a sense of fear         amongst         the    population. In 2018, a month after the LeT commander Naveed Jutt, a Pakistani national, escaped from prison in Srinagar, with the help of HM, a video surfaced on social media, which appeared to be a reunion of sorts. Another, more significant video showed Jutt posing on the streets of Anantnag town, walking down the road, surveying the area. It seemed to send a message that despite the might of security forces in J&K, his movement and activities were going unbridled. The scale of the social media operation of terror outfits is not yet known. There is no information on how many such groups existed in past or still do, since it is not easy to track encrypted messenger platforms. Some of these groups had localised branding. For instance, a group that had members from Pulwama was operating under the name “Pulwama Tigers.” These groups circulated militancy-related content and issued announcements when a known militant was trapped in a cordon launched by the security forces. The audio messages circulated would call for villagers to storm the encounter site to help the militants escape. Some reports also suggest that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, ISI, is running around 18,000 social media accounts for information operations and to push the anti-India propaganda. CONCLUSION.Social media is used not only to create a narrative for gun culture and to glamorise militancy amongst the local populace, but also to expose the weakness of the state. It has changed the meaning of “battlefield victory.” While the state and the security forces view victory in terms of the conventional notions of the battle, counting their success in the killing of militants or their surrender, the public view as a defeat of the state the videos of large funeral processions where the slain gets a gun salute and a hero’s farewell. For security forces, an encounter and the killing of a militant is the end of the battle. Unfortunately, it is actually the beginning, and the glorification of his death inspires many more to join the militant ranks. Analysts have argued that a man (Burhan Wani) who did not fire a single bullet at the security forces during the fateful encounter that turned the history of Kashmir has become lethal in his grave. Wani’s death triggered an unrest where militants gained a foothold in the southern districts of Kashmir valley and motivated another generation of Kashmiris to take the violent path. And the deaths of many new militants who followed his path has now created a mirage of bravado and heroism—an illusion of victory that pushes Kashmir into deeper abyss with each passing day. There is an army of social media warriors who keep the battle alive in the minds of the populace. Guns cannot kill clicks, constructs and imaginative heroism, as social media activity and the narrative of the gun goes unchallenged. The jihad now plays out in virtual space. So the Social Media has in turn became a conduit for militant organizations to reach out to the masses . the other important thing that Social Media is providing is direct and unrestricted access to the thoughts and emotions of the people Kashmir. So it is high time that the Security Forces device and implement a plan to counter this new form of warfare , this will not only help bring down the insurgency levels , but also pay long term dividends by bringing peace and tranquility to the land .

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