The Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition held a media symposium at its headquarters in Riyadh today entitled “The Role of the Media in the Fight against Terrorism” with the presence and participation of media professionals, including civilians and military personnel, from various countries of the Islamic military anti-terrorism coalition. During a symposium moderated by Shura Council member Dr. Fayez bin Abdullah Al Shehri, President of the Islamic University of the Maldives, Dr. Ibrahim Zakaria Musa, reviewed media strategies to raise awareness of terrorism and extremism, noting that terrorist attacks carried out by extremist groups themselves are in themselves a form of communication with people in order to prove their false power, indicating that the media pays great attention to news of a violent nature, and therefore the media must be careful when publishing any news leading to violent actions in order to prevent terrorists from achieving their goals, using the media to spread their violent messages and propaganda.
The Minister of Information and Communications of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Rahman Suare, addressed the use of social media to limit the spread of extremism, pointing out that hate speech is a fire that fuels conflict and is often rooted in undermining peace and the social fabric that breeds intolerance and hatred. explaining that social media is a weapon, its double-edged importance in building peace cannot be overestimated, and at the same time, society needs to be protected from its misuse.
The head of the Radio and Television Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Dr. Amr Al-Laiti, spoke about the relationship between new media and terrorist practices, stating that modern terrorism is media terrorism, when the media are involved in extremist terrorist acts, and not just because it is obliged to report on any major event, but also because at the same time, the terrorist drama attracts everyone’s attention.
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism, Major General Airman Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Maghidi, confirmed that this symposium aims to create a unified media discourse against terrorism and extremism, as well as draw up a roadmap to determine its paths and renewable tools to defeat and eliminate it in the media in our Islamic world and the international community, pointing out the extent of the suffering that has fallen to the lot of Islamic and international countries from the scourge of terrorism and extremism, and Islam is innocent of this, noting the enormity of the material and moral damage caused by this scourge.
It is noteworthy that this symposium takes place within the framework of lectures, seminars and workshops that the Islamic Coalition is working on, through which there is an exchange of international experience in everything that will contribute to the fight against terrorism and extremism, since this symposium is also aimed at increasing the level of coordination and cooperation and intensifying dialogue between the media, intellectual and cultural sectors in order to achieve effective mechanisms that contribute to the fight against terrorism at the level of the media and intellectual activity, and to develop recommendations for the media and intellectual activity in this regard.
