Propaganda in the SWANA Region
Image from The Economist
By Tanner Willis
Propaganda is described as a portrayal of information or opinions that are biased toward one’s view with the intent to persuade others. Propaganda has been used for thousands of years by civilizations to either sway the public or even trick their opponents into an unwinnable battle, such as Themistocles in 480 B.C.E. who used propaganda to bait Xeres of the Achaemenid Dynasty into the Straits of Salamis.
Fast forward to the modern day, and tactics like these and the use of false messages to persuade one party for the other’s benefit are still being used globally. In the past, propaganda was more direct from leader to leader, but now governments and other prominent members of society use the masses to push the opposition to bow to their desires. The South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region, like the rest of the world, is no exception to this technological evolution that has been combusted on a global scale.
However, not all propaganda is bad. For example, a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi became one of the first people to go viral for protesting against the Tunisian government. Civilian social media users shared the video of Bouazizi self-immolating in protest and this quickly led to action in 16 other countries in the region. This movement became famously known as the Arab Spring Movement and can be described with the Arabic word Qawmiyya, which translates as connectedness as a nation but in terms of a people, not a geographical border.
Image from Wikipedia
There are different descriptors for propaganda; one being “white propaganda,” meaning propaganda that is open and an acknowledged source focused on a certain audience. Another can be categorized as “gray propaganda” as it is neither true nor false, Themistocles did meet Xeres where he said he would, but he did not let him know he was there prepared for battle. Additionally, there is “black propaganda”, which is the most dangerous; this is when information is spread from a hidden source and is exaggerated beyond reality.
People are constantly exposed to social media links, and other means of promoting black propaganda. Extremist groups such as ISIL or al Qaeda have used a variety of techniques to spread their message and attract new followers. The majority of people who do get exposed to this wave of propaganda are not going to be radicalized. These groups understand this as well as we do, but they also know the people they try to recruit with their ideology are typically vulnerable, either by feeling isolated or unworthy, and are often in poor economic circumstances or conflict zones. To some, this propaganda may bring a sense of belonging and hope to create meaning in their life. For example, graffiti or posters that glorify suicide bombers in a conflict zone can be used to give a sense of validation to those actions. This glorification can bring heightened status within one’s immediate circle before one commits such an atrocious act of violence.
In 2005, Ayman al Zawahiri wrote to then al Qaeda’s leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, that more than half the battle they were facing was in the media and not on the battlefield. Extremist groups have pushed hard against governments and media that have historically controlled the story and transcribed events. Social media has been a main vehicle for changing the narrative of radical groups towards the world. The Internet does not often regulate posts or videos, which allows radical groups to publish false or embellished stories that fit an intentional narrative.
Information communication technology (ICT), more commonly known as ‘social media’ is a cheap and effective way to spread ideology. Furthermore, extremist groups can remain unfound and protect their anonymity by using encryption. This allows these groups to entice violence without being exposed by law enforcement. The use of hashtags and typosquatting has increased traffic toward propaganda that many of these groups seek to spread. Typosquatting is when a user posts a story with a legitimate media name or professional figure; for example, they share a story allegedly by BBC News but the URL or link will show “BritishBroadcastingCompany(dot)org” so users will in theory believe the message being shared is legitimate.
SWANA governments have not let these challenges go unnoticed and have placed policies to counter the insurgencies of technological warfare through social media and other modes of propaganda. Some countries have partnered with social media giants like Facebook and Twitter to hinder the spread of black propaganda toward its civilians. Israel established Internet Referral Units (IRUs) to discover potential harmful and illegal activities on social media. Of all the requests made by the IRUs in 2015, 87% were made to Facebook and 90% of that amount of reported flagged content was removed, user deleted, and some arrests. The pressure applied by governments toward social media giants is a give-and-take scenario. While the Israeli government was able to use this to its advantage to counter those who oppose the government, Palestinian activists protesting the eviction of their homes took to social media to express their views. Thousands of posts from people sharing their stories were taken down and some accounts were restricted or suspended. Facebook then apologized for removing the content, claiming a technical error, as algorithms are created to monitor the behavior and not content.
Language and Media
These algorithms create skewed results because major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are based in English and do not always translate well with Arabic. For example, the word martyr in Arabic is “shaheed”, however unlike the English definition, shaheed can have multiple meanings, excluding the English one of, sacrificing one’s life for something of great value. Shaheed can be the same as the English version of the word, but it can also mean to witness an event. So, when Facebook is policing content for discriminating and hateful material, some posts can be taken out of context and wrongfully removed. This has created a strong opposition towards social media “over-policing” as Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has come under pressure because this has affected how journalists are able to report, due to fear of being flagged for dangerous or extremist content. This issue directly constricts people’s ability to express their experience about the quality of life they endure when facing traumatic events, natural disasters, conflict zones, etc. because their digital rights are being misappropriated by either a government or a social media platform.
Thus, it is good for governments and social media platforms to collaborate to stop black propaganda but to recognize and address that there are errors in how these platforms regulate social media users and what types of content get flagged. The lapse in transparency between users and governments by social media platforms has created widespread censorship issues. This is because their algorithms are not created for, nor initially intended for the magnitude of data and complex meaning behind multiple different languages outside the base language. However, social media giants have shown time and time again that they will side with whichever government is applying the most political pressure. Hence, the example mentioned earlier is between Israel and Palestine.
Since the Arab Spring, governments have constantly faced challenges to legitimize their power. Prior to the movement, any entity against pan-Arabism would have been highly frowned upon. Now with civilians more openly challenging governments, governing entities have used propaganda to instill fear against the opposition, whether that be a country, religion, ethnic group, or other entity. Iran has used Shi’a imagery propaganda to portray Saudi Arabia as the enemy in Syria and act as a religious obligation. Saudi Arabia has likewise used propaganda imagery against Iran. Saudi Arabia, though not officially, created the Saudi Strike Force Movie on YouTube. The video’s opening states, “To reach the Qibla of the Muslims is a main target for the Iranian regime…we will bring the fight to Iran.” The video goes on to show simulated war footage of missiles being launched and Google Earth images of one of Iran’s military bases. This messaging from both sides will heighten the emotions of those viewing the video; it may inspire the people of Saudi Arabia to protect their homeland and spark anger in Iran’s people with an accusation but no information to prove their intentions.
Countries worldwide consistently use tactics to tackle negative propaganda if they deem it hurtful to their cause. One such tactic is the use of bots or troll armies to like, retweet, share, and direct the narrative in their favor. Governments such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey have cyber security infrastructure in place, including bots and troll armies, to protect their image domestically and abroad and to spark negative conversations about their rivals. The “Endless Mayfly” was a propaganda campaign led by Iran to distort the image of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States with over 20,000 clicks. Governments have also used these trolls to attack individuals deemed as “anti-establishment”, the most notable example being Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
Propaganda has been a tool used to persuade the public’s opinion for thousands of years. It has been used to change the narrative on politics, religion, natural disasters, and geographic and ethnic groups toward the public society. White, gray, and black propaganda has evolved through the growing audiences it is now able to reach due to the advancement of ICT. As ICT continues to advance its capabilities, education on its abilities to communicate messages both true and false must be at the forefront for the protection of the public good. Collaboration with social media platforms, governments, and individual users must create a dialog that protects users from harming content being shared in mass without obstructing the human right to freedom of speech, expression, and access to credible information. ICT created qawmiyya for people from one end of the globe to the other, but it can also create opposition toward the other as actors continue to push propaganda in the SWANA region and beyond to achieve their narrative.