The constitution protection of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to fight radical Islamism with "wit, humor and facts" on YouTube. On the launched in August 2019 YouTube channel "Jihadi Fool" published the constitutional protection sometimes elaborately produced comedy videos such as "Bomb mood with Bashka - The goulash gun" or "Sharia Cops".
"Every good joke has a 'true' background," the channel's description says. "Using satirical portrayals of extremist Salafism and Islamism / terrorism and radicalization, we pursue the goal of getting a broad public into this The two newer clips have so far seen only a few hundred people, even the comments are manageable, the most successful video has so far about 15,000 calls, about an IS returnee who is fighting with everyday life in Berlin.
The YouTube experiment is just one example of how governments, social networks, and civil society initiatives around the world are using digital approaches to counter online Islamist terrorist propaganda - and increasingly right-wing extremist hate speech - with their own offerings aimed at de-radicalization. But how successful are they and where are their limits?
The terrorism expert Irfan Peci, although the actors and the professional production of "Jihadi Fool" good, but the videos have far too few clicks, also most comments are negative. "Ninety-nine percent of those who comment on it are ordinary YouTube users, and they're not the target group of extremists they're looking for," says Peci.
He used to make online propaganda for al-Qaida as Germany's head of the "Global Islamic Media Front" (GIMF) and is now analyzing ITCT's anti-terror strategies for the think tank. "It's too 'German' humor," he says. "The most radicalized audience is young Muslims, who have a different mentality and a different sense of humor, and most of them will not feel funny at all." The 500,000 euro production costs would be out of all proportion to the very small, if any, positive effect, says Peci.
But it is clear: Even with massive delete and lock actions social networks get terror propaganda on the Internet not under control. "In a world where it is impossible to silence extremist narratives altogether, it is a necessary alternative to develop 'counter-narratives'," reads the Counter-Narrative Handbook, a strategy paper from the London think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). So it's about opposing one particular narrative or perspective. It's about counter-propaganda, if you like.
So-called counter narratives are intended to deconstruct or challenge Islamist narratives. Alternative narratives could also highlight positive alternatives to extremist propaganda, such as stories that emphasize values such as openness, freedom, and democracy.
Deterrence through shock videos
France, for example, experimented with counter-propaganda with the #Stopdjihadisme social media campaign in 2015 following the terrorist attacks. A video countered about myths spread by Islamists with counter-notices, backed by drastic images of violence. Shock messages such as "You'll find hell on earth and die alone, away from home" should keep teens from going to Iraq or Syria. But how daunting do such striking black and white messages look like?
State-financed counter-propaganda in the form of confrontational strategies is held by terrorism expert Dr. Benno Köpfer for "past". He is head of the analysis group International Extremism and Terrorism at the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and says: "I do not see it as a task of the state, a kind of psychological warfare to operate."
Even if state actors try to play off the "right Islam" against "false Islam", according to the Köpfer, such projects would have had little resonance in Saudi Arabia and the US. Alternative narratives - for example, by showing other ways of life and perspectives - could, in his opinion, work.
"People are not stupid"
The same is true of Pierre Asisi, research assistant at the prevention association ufuq.de. "It does not have much convincing if the constitutional protection produces videos like the comedy series - people are not stupid, they question that," he says. "You have to look at topics that extremists treat and develop answers, preferably with the target audience, rather than from above." It is not about the same aspects as a possible exit to war zones. Asisi observes that the Islamist side lures not yet radicalized youth mostly with low-threshold topics, such as racism and discrimination. The videos produced by ufuq.de "show alternatives!" are put on the net, but they are mainly used by teachers as a reason to talk with students.
Asisi also considers authentic projects such as the satire project "Datteltäter" ("Datteldäter") promoted by Funk - the young media service of public service broadcasting - to be successful. Young creators pick up on topics such as headscarves, everyday racism or Hatespeech and reach with more than a million clicks and lively debates with videos such as "16 things that headscarf-wearing women in Germany know" or "If racism would be honest: the job interview."
Allegations of covert propaganda
The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) operates the Instagram channel "Say my Name", which deals with topics such as everyday racism and sexism, but also spreads positive memes. The web project "Jamal al-Khatib" is also sponsored by the bpb. In a video series describes an allegedly 16-year-old Austrian his radicalization and his exit. "It's exciting, professionally designed videos, but it was not clear whether it was a fictional character or not, and it was only resolved after the fact that the stories of several young people were condensed into a character," says Pierre Asisi of Ufuq. de.
If state funding is obscured by certain offers, this can lead to the opposite effects, as experience from Great Britain shows. There, the hip Instagram channel "This is Woke" wanted young Muslims with video clips and slogans like "Take a self-care break" or "You can be a feminist and at the same time a Muslim".
When it came out recently that the British Home Office was financing the offer produced by a media company, there was a lot of covert propaganda. Also "SuperSisters", a platform for young Muslim women, is in the criticism, because content is also funded by a counter-terrorism program of the government. Users feel cheated, Muslim employees quit.
Online quiz about radicalization
For young people who already sympathize with Islamists, the impact of such offers is limited anyway. "It's like an arms race: The jihadist side wants to keep their people in the echo chamber - and has thereby a clear start advantage with their catchy hero stories.Then you have to start in the real world rather than in the online spheres," says Benno Köpfer of the constitution.
Projects such as the interactive platform "Civil Heroes" of the police crime prevention of the federal states and the federal government (ProPK) therefore try to address the circle of friends of vulnerable young people. In rap form, conversations with friends are recreated, users can then opt for strategies of argumentation or learn by online quiz more about evidence of radicalization. Köpfer also thinks it makes sense for initiatives such as "Jugendschutz.net" to seek dialogue with young people, parents and teachers. The Internet is "a facilitator" for radicalization, but the friends and the immediate environment much more crucial, especially at the beginning.
Chat with terrorists
The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) has created a direct online dialogue format with "One to One." Teenagers in the UK, the US, and Canada who made radical online views were emailed by former terrorists and other dropouts written and involved in chats.
"The method is very time-consuming and also has risks - but it creates an irritating moment, and you can perhaps make the small doubt that still exists with everyone," says Köpfer about the project. "The key point is that two people talk to each other, who know what they are talking about." He could also imagine a similar project for Germany.
Ex-jihadist Peci also believes that the cost of "Jihadi Fool" in a dialogue format would be better invested: "For 500,000 euros could be a group of top-Deradikalisierer put together for a year that do nothing but write down extremists on the Internet and engage them in conversation, "says Peci. He considers it realistic that dozens of people could be de-radicalized within a year.
If it succeeds in opening sympathizers for a different perspective, it will be possible to show material at a later date which, for example, demonstrates the brutality of the Islamists. "Extremists are just as likely to do it," says Peci. "They do not spread videos aimlessly, but first do Dawah (proselytizing) with the person and only at a suitable time do they propagate propaganda material and other things."
