THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The governments of the United Arab Emirates and the United States have launched a new Middle Eastern digital communications center focused on using social media to counter Da’ish’s propaganda efforts online.
Da’ish supporters have harnessed social media to spread the group’s slickly produced Hollywood-style film clips and other messages aimed at recruiting and drawing support from plugged-in young Muslims.
Leaders across the world have urged that more needs to be done to combat the media blitz, characterizing the fight on the communications front as a key pillar in the overall effort to defeat Da’ish.
The new Sawab Center, opened in July 2015, is one of the most concrete responses to that call yet in the region. Named for the Arabic word for “the right or proper way,” the center is based in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Richard Stengel, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, traveled to the Emirates for Sawab’s launch. He and Anwar Gargash, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, released a joint statement saying the center’s aim is to support coalition efforts, challenge Da’ish propaganda and “amplify moderate and tolerant voices from across the region.”
Speaking later to The Associated Press, Stengel expressed hope the project will help “reverse the narrative” about the terrorist group and could serve as a template for similar centers elsewhere.
“What the Sawab Center will do is, it will begin to rectify the wrong impression that Da’ish is beating us in the information war and the social media war,” he said.
In July 2015, the center released YouTube videos and Twitter messages in Arabic and English announcing its launch.About 15 to 20 full-time staff, mostly Emiratis, will work at the center, said Rashad Hussain, U.S. special envoy and coordinator for strategic counterterrorism communications.
Separately, the United States has been expanding an existing U.S. State Department division set up in 2011 that Hussain heads known as the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications.
Its responsibilities include countering extremist messages online and coordinating American counterterrorism messaging efforts. It is increasingly sharing stories of defectors and former radicals, highlighting Muslim victims of terrorism, and showcasing living conditions and battlefield realities in Da’ish-held areas, Hussain said.
The Abu Dhabi center’s staff will engage social media users on various platforms and partner with prominent individuals and organizations to counter Da’ish messaging, Hussain said. It will also host a content-sharing platform so partners can upload and download files.
Hussain said it sends a powerful message when Muslim communities publicly reject extremists’ messages, and he expressed appreciation for the Emiratis’ leadership in supporting the new center.
“It’s important that our partners step up in the messaging space in a way that reflects the Muslim communities around the world,” he said.