Lawrence Peter Ampofo
Internet Research on the 11-M Attacks: Key Narratives and Immigration (2004-2010)
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Internet Research on the 11-M Attacks: Key Narratives and Immigration (2004-2010)The author created a methodological process from media analysis to analyse online discussion related to the Madrid terrorist attacks of 2004 to support the primary research conducted. The insight provided in this analysis is intended to enrich the points made during the course of the chapter and provide secondary data in addition to that provided by the semi-structured interviews. The date range of the analysis was six months from 11 March to 11 August each year over a period of seven years (2004 to 2010). The internet research contained within this chapter is a version of that developed in Chapters Five, which focuses on the nature of narratives in online discussion, Chapter Six which focuses on cybercrime and Chapter Seven, which focuses on the nature of the behaviour of online communities in response to the 11 March terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004. An explanation of the methodology used to conduct the internet research process was provided in Chapter Three. In this chapter, the internet research provides an indicative assessment of the nature of behaviour of online communities in response to the 11 March 2004 terrorist attacks. It focuses on narratives relating to the bombings and the issue of immigration. Of the 879 individual data points analysed, comprised of content emanating from blogs, discussion forums and websites, 177 were directly related to the topic of immigration. It is noticeable that, in spite of the discussion concerning immigration, technology and terrorism, the volume of discussion did not remain constant during the different time periods from 2004 to 2010. While the volume of discussion did taper off, it is not the opinion of the author that overall discussion on immigration, technology and terrorism fell. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the focus of discussion related to the topic of immigration changed from relating discussion to 11-M to other more focused elements of terrorism such as Operación NOVA I & II and Operación Sello I & II outlined in greater detail in Chapter Five. Figure Eight: Line Chart Presenting the Total Volume of Immigration-related Commentary Over Time N=177
Source: Lawrence Ampofo The line chart in Figure Eight demonstrates that the rate of commentary pertaining to immigration, technology and terrorism peaked in 2004-2005 in the immediate aftermath of the bombing and subsequently for the first anniversary of 11-M. Commentary at this time focused primarily on the commensuration of the independent variables and the securitisation of immigration as a result of al-Qaeda admitting culpability for the attacks. An example of this is seen in an article in the Diario Córdoba in which it claimed that vulnerable members of Spain’s Moroccan population were at risk of being recruited by the wider al-Qaeda organisation. It claimed that while Egyptians and Saudi Arabians were responsible for planning and strategy within al-Qaeda, the organisation had studied population migratory patterns to Spain and decided upon using Moroccan and Algerian groups to carry out the individual attacks, leaving Spain vulnerable to future attacks.35 This comment underscores the role that securitisation played in enabling the commensuration of the issues of terrorism and immigration, affording justification to the enhanced protection of Spanish borders by the Government. In addition, other individual commentators claimed that the occurrence of 11-M had demonstrated that immigration and multiculturalism had failed in Spain because Moroccan nationals had perpetrated the attack. A participant in the newsgroup es.charla.politica.misc, for instance, claimed that if a person says that they are not in favour of the mixing of the races then they are classed as a neo-Nazi. He continued that he loves Spain and does not desire to share it with people who do not feel the same way about it as him.36 The fear and resultant anger and frustration demonstrated between 2004 and 2005 are predictable in light of the magnitude of the attacks and the lack of a clear public diplomacy strategy. One of the main reasons for the commensuration of the issues of immigration and terrorism was the revelation that Moroccan nationals had admitted culpability for the attack. It is interesting that discussion pertaining to the topic fell markedly from 2006 to 2010, rising slightly in 2007 and 2009. 2007 saw more politicised comments as online users claimed that the terrorist attacks were the result of the Aznar Government’s decision to join the US-led coalition into Iraq. This, it was claimed, compelled people to engage in illegal immigration to perpetrate violent actions against the state.37 The fifth anniversary of the 11 March attacks in 2009 encouraged an increase of commentary, in a similar vein to that seen previously in 2004 and 2005, as commentators claimed that immigration from North Africa was problematic to the security of Spain and that Jihadist terrorism had been actively perpetuated long before 11-M. An example of this is the blogger who commented on a tributary post to the Que! blog, claiming that Jihadist terrorist attacks had been occurring in Spain for decades and the main place for recruitment in the region is Catalonia.38 The overall corpus of online content highlights the extent to which Spanish social media users and the mainstream media demonstrated a proclivity to commensurate immigration with terrorism. The reasons for this alternate between an understanding that illegal Moroccan immigrants were responsible for the attacks, and the notion that the attacks were retribution from immigrant Muslims to former Spanish Government foreign policy. The following chart (Figure Nine) shows the way in which such discussion was framed through a sentiment analysis of the content, which was largely negative in nature. This demonstrates that the majority of online users felt that the issues of immigration and terrorism were inextricably linked and subsequently (Figure Ten) having a deleterious effect on national security. Figure Nine shows the way in which discussion of immigration, technology, terrorism and counter-terrorism was framed through a sentiment analysis of the content, which was largely negative in nature. This finding, combined with the data on Figure Ten, showing the range of narratives most frequently mentioned, suggests that online users commensurated the issues of immigration and terrorism, subsequently provoking a harmful effect on national security. Figure Nine: Stacked Column Chart Demonstrating the Sentiment of Immigration-related Commentary Over Time Source: Lawrence Ampofo N=177
Figure Nine demonstrated the high proportion of strongly negative commentary featuring significantly in each year from 2004 to 2010. Figure Ten, in addition, demonstrates the range of the most frequent narratives comprising each year of commentary related to the topics. Figure Ten: Stacked Bar Chart Demonstrating the Most-Frequent Narratives Involved in Immigration-related Commentary Over Time Source: Lawrence Ampofo N=177 While strongly negative commentary was present, the main narrative it referred to was ‘Spain is still an object of terrorism’. An example of this is seen in a discussion thread on the BBC Mundo website following an article analysing the first anniversary of the 11-M attacks in 2005. One commentator claimed that Muslim communities in Spain were economically and socially deprived, which provided the conditions for the terrorist attacks witnessed in Madrid in 2004. The commentator added that the issue of non-integration is problematic for the Muslim and Spanish populations in Spain as it generates resentment, which feeds radicalised religious ideologies and gives credence to terrorist organisations, which might exploit an opportunity to for them to capitalise on.39 The sentiment that economic factors were responsible for the Madrid attacks was supported by Elena Sánchez at the Centre d’Informació i Documentació Internacionals a Barcelona (CIDOB) who claimed that the negative economic situation currently faced by Spain was largely responsible for creating entire neighbourhoods of immigrants, which in turn was fostering fear amongst the greater Spanish population. This comment demonstrates the degree to which Spanish language online commentators emphasised integration of the immigrant population as an integral element to preventing future attacks. It also emphasises the extent to which religious discourses, such as the notion that al-Qaeda will continue the Jihad in the name of Islam, are also linked with immigration, technology and terrorism online following the 11-M attacks. The use of religious discourse, in addition to that of ethnic separatism, was a common feature explaining the propensity for strongly negative commentary online. The prevalence of such strong sentiment in online discussion also indicates that core narratives of tolerance and diversity from the Government were not being perceived by the general public. Despite Spanish Government narratives of tolerance and diversity, delivered through its various public diplomacy strategies, and its efforts in creating multilateral agreements in the framework of the EUROMED, the findings of the internet research indicate that such messages are not being interpreted online in the same way. Another example of this is seen in a post to the blog Labranza de Dios about the Government’s sponsorship of a local Muslim political party called Renacimiento y Unión that was given public funds to represent the issues of immigrants. The author claimed that the establishment of this party signalled that Spanish society was facing significant danger from the perceived increment in political, social and economic power of migrants in the country.40 The internet research indicates strongly that understandings of immigration, technology and terrorism in Spain exist amongst a wide range of actors. It has shown that the volume of content related to the topic of immigration increased significantly during the first and fifth year anniversaries of the 11-M attacks, while there was also an increase in coverage that related strongly to successes in national counter-terrorism programmes. The fact that the majority of the content was strongly negative in sentiment reveals that online commentators were prone to commensurating issues to support their arguments and align with their personal or group beliefs. Examples of this include conflating issues such as immigration, religion, integration and poverty with technology and terrorism to create one stand-alone issue of concern. The findings suggest that while the Spanish Government is working to propagate a popular discourse that promotes diversity and tolerance through its international political activities and public diplomacy programmes, many online users are not interpreting events in the Government’s terms and thus the core narratives positively. It also suggests that in spite of the Government’s access to high technology as a means of influencing understandings of immigration, technology and terrorism, general perceptions of these issues (and this issue) are not positive. Directory: portal -> files -> 4733003 files -> Impact case study (ref3b) files -> Ethics and Factual Television: a short history files -> P. O. Box 27, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland tel. 358-9-191 58080 / 22216; fax 358-9-191 58096 / 23008 files -> The impact of a pledge campaign and the promise of publicity: a randomized controlled trial of charitable donations files -> Diversity and Voice: the Political Participation of Young People in the European Union files -> Chapter 15 a voice in Decision Making: young children in Denmark Stig Broström Introduction Download 1.29 Mb. Share with your friends:
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