Lawrence Peter Ampofo
Main Conclusions from the Thesis
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Main Conclusions from the ThesisThe Internet and the Web are Socio-Technical in Nature The exercise of political, economic and technological control over the development of the internet and the Web results in enhanced communication capabilities, or the propensity to wield influence, for certain actors. This argument was elucidated within the framework of the theory from the field of science and technology studies of technological determinism, by the French sociologist and anthropologist Bruno Latour (Latour, 1988). Latour, amongst others, argued in support of the notion that technology in itself is not simply a physical object. Agency and power with high technology reside within human actors. Other theorists argued in support of Latour’s socio-technical explanation of the development of the internet and the Web such as Wanda Orlikowski (Orlikowski, 2006) who claimed that technology developers and end users influence the final development of the objects. As humans have agency over the development of these technologies, therefore, scholars of terrorism and the internet such as Gabriel Wiemann (Wiemann, 2006) have postulated that the internet can be used as a force multiplier ‘to launch psychological campaigns, recruit and direct volunteers, raise funds, incite violence and provide training…plan, network, and coordinate attacks’, (Wiemann, 2006: 2). As a result, it was the initial position of this thesis that such technologies be considered as social and cultural spaces that reflect the interactions of numerous daily human activities (Markham, 2008: 9). As the internet and the Web are socio-technical in nature, the thesis suggested the importance of advancing and utilising the notion that these technologies constitute an entirely new “battleground” for 21st century states of terror (Bobbitt, 2008). However, it is noteworthy that the findings generated by the research processes have demonstrated that technology has not simply empowered terrorism and counter-terrorism organisations. Over the course of the chapters, it has become apparent that when considering immigration, narratives, cybercrime, communities and public diplomacy in Spain, the results of empowerment due to access to new technology have not been linear, rather they have been uneven. The reason for this can be attributed to Latour’s (1998) assertion, outlined in Chapter One, that technological development is a “socio-technical mess” and that linear development from new technology to clear political communication is not likely to occur. Engagement with Narratives by Online Communities is not Linear but Complex As has been presented in earlier chapters, the nature of communication amongst online communities is not a linear process. Narratives are not presented to target audiences on pre-defined media channels and subsequently assimilated. Rather, online communities are exposed to a range of narratives and viewpoints simultaneously and, as a result, engagement with the issues of technology, terrorism and counter-terrorism is not a top-down process but rather a complex, multi-directional process. This complexity, therefore, makes it difficult to create and disseminate effective narratives for counter-terrorism strategies. This is due to the lack of clarity as to whether target audiences will assimilate such content and meet the strategic communication objectives of the organisation that produced the content when the narrative has been created. In addition, the issue of complexity raises questions about the trust, credibility and authority of the Spanish Government and other organisations trying to project particular narratives and understandings. The fact that online users widely perceived that the Government had lied about the true course of events relating to 11-M shows the the creator(s) of narratives can become tainted so in the end, narratives from particular sources become unreliable to their intended target audiences. Online Communities are the “New Intellectuals”, Shaping Discussion and Opinions of Others An improved understanding of the dynamics of general online behaviour could be incorporated into counter-terrorism programmes in Spain. This understanding could enhance the principles of Spain’s long-running public diplomacy programmes, contributing to shaping attitudes and behaviours with foreign and domestic publics online. Although the Spanish Government is not able to control the interpretations of its key narratives online, by gaining greater influence online and harnessing the propensity of its citizens to participate in a collaborative counter-terrorism programme, it stands a greater chance of lowering instances of general sympathy for terrorist ideologies. The propensity for Spanish citizens to participate in counter-terrorism programmes has been witnessed repeatedly during this thesis, from the mass public demonstrations in the days following the Madrid bombings, to the public displays of empathy and support to other victims of the attacks in the form of online homages. It is important to analyse and monitor the role played by online communities in the sphere of terrorism in Spain and how they influence the perceptions of those users with a lesser interest in terrorism both online and in the wider world. As indicated in the internet research, such communities are composed of large numbers of people with disparate interests and professional specialties. The internet research suggested that communities may be able to influence terrorism-focused discussions in other communities to such an extent that this may conflate the problems for counter-terrorism agencies in engaging specific individuals and communities online. This was evinced in the way that certain narratives, such as ‘Al-Qaeda will launch repeat attacks if necessary’, permeated the discussions of online communities, instilling a sense of trepidation in online users that Spain might be subject to future attacks. It appears that online communities are, in many ways, the “new intellectuals” in which online users and communities are ‘testament to the ideological diversity currently available causing many to point to cyberspace as the new market place for ideas…those responsible for the content of websites can be considered the “transmitter of ideas within civil society” and, therefore, fulfil the role of the intellectual’ (Fisher, 2003: 2). Fisher, and the findings of the internet research, support the notion that some online communities actively shape and influence the opinions of key people and organisations involved in counter-terrorism and opinion formers involved in the public discourse on terrorism. The Creation and Maintenance of Effective Narratives or Myths is Critical in Influencing Online Communities and Terrorism The notion that terrorist organisations would attempt to assert influence online by shaping the attitudes and behaviours of the wider online population in the hope of gaining sympathy and understanding for their raison d’être, was elucidated in early chapters, as a result of the utility of the initial hypothesis, that access to high technology results in increased capabilities for certain actors. However, the premise of the secondary, more nuanced hypothesis, has been argued, which maintains that the maintenance of myths or memes (Blackmore, 1998) that reinforce predefined strategic objectives is the most important element in shaping understandings of the relationships between terrorism, technology and counter-terrorism in Spain (Reinares, 2006). The reasons for the presence of a secondary, more effective hypothesis can be explained in a number of ways; the first being that in order to attain online influence, it is important to be as visible as possible, something that is not conducive to achieving the strategic operational goals of market state terrorists such as al-Qaeda. Terrorism, as has been written previously, relies on stealth, covertness and surprise, which is not conducive to the general influence of attitudes and behaviours online. Certainly, this viewpoint was elucidated in an interview with the think tank analyst Jamie Bartlett who claimed that “if you’re willing to blow yourself up or other people up, I think it takes more than spending time online, looking at images and talking to people online. You need the face-to-face interaction and more importantly you need the training which you can’t get from the internet.”101 In place of the apparent absence of terrorist organisations in the “Visible Web”, however, is the assertion that said organisations have restricted their activities to designated forums and websites where they are free, in relative isolation, to air their views and to convince other members of the merits of their endeavours, to potential members who are already on their way to becoming radicalised (Bobbitt, 2008). It was also apparent that a number of online users expressed sympathy and understanding with the ideals and objectives of terrorist organisations and thus played an instrumental role in perpetuating the key narratives of such organisations to new networks and communities. It is, therefore, posited that the narratives espoused by terrorist organisations are intrinsically more pervasive, and by implication dangerous insofar as creating fear, than the overt presence of a terrorist organisation online could have been. This phenomenon underscores the importance of curtailing the influence of such narratives by a thorough understanding of online behaviour, in addition to the implementation of adequate tools and methodological processes needed to analyse the social and cultural content emanating from these sites. The pre-eminence of myths as the preponderant factor in achieving online communication strategies also alludes to the fact that the thesis has moved beyond governmentality as a theoretical framework for explaining the diffusion of power online. Although government actors may exert power over the nature of the development of internet and Web technologies as outlined in Chapter One, the findings from the empirical research have shown that, in reference to the nature of online behaviour related to 11-M, government actors are not influential. Evidence of the Commensuration of Terrorism with other Issues to make One Dependent Variable is Widespread There are many examples of commensuration as a social process where online users and communities use the issue of terrorism as a platform to attain influence in their own issue areas. For example, commensuration was prevalent in discussions on immigration in Chapter Four and on issues discussed around the topic of cybercrime in Chapter Six, as online users expressed the sentiment that these issues were the root cause of the terrorism threat in Spain. The use of commensuration to analyse independent variables, such as immigration and terrorism, and conflate them to form one issue (Espeland & Stevens, 1998) led to the securitisation of immigration, evinced in the implementation of more stringent border controls and securitisation of the discourse of immigration in Spain (Colás, 2010, Sánchez, 2011). Web 3.0 Could Present an Opportunity for the Formulation of More Effective Counter-terrorism Strategies With the number of people and devices connected to the internet and the Web set to increase and, ergo, the number of social and cultural interactions, it follows that the Spanish Government could revise its online public diplomacy effort, and adopt a strategy that focuses on engagement and interaction with online communities and users to assert a greater degree of influence in the ways their narratives are interpreted. The findings derived from the internet research process, in particular, highlighted the complex behaviour of certain communities of users that sought to influence the general discussion of terrorism online to benefit their own interests, such as the strongly positive sentiments generated by the General Public community, shown in Chapter Seven, in which users displayed calls to action for members of other communities to unite in support for the victims of 11-M and stand against terrorism. The fact that the online space is composed of various groups seeking to assert their influence on discussions of terrorism and counter-terrorism underscored the ample opportunity that exists for the Spanish Government to create and assert its own influence over discussions about terrorism online by seeking to attain the same level of influence as the most influential users online. As the internet and the Web are socio-technical in nature, it follows that the same social and cultural space is dominated by collections of narratives that jockey for the attention of online users. This is not to discount the range of long-term beliefs and narratives that already exist in the minds of users that new narratives must compete with. It is, therefore, incumbent upon counter-terrorist organisations to develop compelling narratives and, more importantly attain online influence, if they are to decrease the level of negative commentary and behaviour that is sympathetic to the aims of terrorist organisations. In addition, it follows that a more nuanced and profound understanding of user behaviour on the contemporary Web is imperative if influence is to be attained and the online agency of terrorist organisations is to be diminished. To achieve this, the Government and other Spanish counter-terrorism agencies could take stock of the examples set by the UK and the US Governments in which their digital public diplomacy efforts have become an intrinsic part of their counter-terrorism strategies. It follows that the internet should not only be used as yet another tool to project a positive image of Spain but as a platform for negotiation, engagement and understanding that will forge long-term relationships with target populations. Some Official Narratives do not Reach Target Audiences The revised hypothesis, which was formulated as a result of the analyses of the empirical research, highlighted the importance of developing a comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of users online, before constructing and disseminating influential narratives amongst online users and communities. The behaviour of online users became the focus of the internet research, particularly the ways in which online communities act and react to each other and the interpretation of core narratives by online users. It was concluded that the Spanish Government and its counter-terrorism organisations at times failed to generate positive sentiment of their key narratives by citizens and diaspora communities. This occurrence was witnessed most prominently in the internet research and the preponderance of the ‘Government lies about 11-M’ narrative during the entire date range. In addition, the interviews conducted yielded similar conclusions, particularly the following comment from the former Head of Communications and Institutional Relations for the Congreso de los Diputatados, Maria Llorach, that the core narratives created and delivered by the Spanish Government are not reaching target audiences: “[The Government] doesn’t know how to communicate correctly. They are utilising strategies from the 20th century when we are now in the 21st century and everything is different. Apart from this, there are very few people who are really prepared to design these strategies because they all have the mentality of someone in the 20th century…when the Web arrived many people within the Government said, what do we do with the Web? Because we don’t know how to do it. They know how to engage with the press, but they don’t consider [digital communications] because it has been perceived it as if it was an alien monster, they do not know how to use it.”102 In the internet research, widespread misinterpretation of Government narratives occurred in spite of the proclivity of some online users and communities to strive to assist counter-terrorism organisations in preventing more attacks. The responses from the participants in the interviews conducted, and from the internet research indicate, therefore, that the official narratives from the Government and other counter-terrorism agencies are not being interpreted positively by online users. Maria Llorach’s previous comments also highlighted the Government’s lack of involvement with internet and Web technologies as part of their counter-terrorism strategies. The Government’s apparent inability or unwillingness to engage with internet and Web technologies to influence understandings on technology, terrorism and counter-terrorism could be a contributing factor to the high volume of negative commentary directed at it. If we are to accept this conclusion, however, the corollary is that the volume of negative sentiment will increase significantly with the introduction of Web 3.0 technologies. The author contends that the presence of Web 3.0 technologies and the increase in social interactions will lead to the development of Terrorism 3.0 which, as outlined previously, will render online engagement with terrorism and counter-terrorism in Spain more mobile, pervasive and participatory as the barriers to entry for engagement in these issues lowers considerably. As such, the practice of influencing online conversation according to the strategic objectives of organisations will be more difficult. The Government could leverage this increasingly prescient issue to its advantage by continuing to monitor and analyse closely online behaviour, and using the conclusions to implement well-targeted public diplomacy campaigns both online and in the real-world. 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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