Salafism is becoming increasingly attractive on the Internet. The current of Sunni Islam, which advocates a return to the faith of the Prophet Mohammed and his first followers and which partly accepts violence, is moving with the times: stale preachers are less common, short videos and memes are in greater demand. This can be found in a heise online study on “Generation Z” and the “Salafist online ecosystem”, which was carried out by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
According to the analysis by ISD, the number of posts in the Arabic- and English-speaking Salafist online communities more than doubled between October 2019 and July 2021, with an increase of 112 and 110 percent respectively. The increase in the German-speaking area was 77 percent.
Salafist content is therefore becoming increasingly popular on platforms such as TikTok, which are geared towards Generation Z. There, influencers with millions of followers could make extensive use of the special spot and comment functions of the social network “to reinforce and promote polarizing and sectarian narratives”. This makes it increasingly possible for them to address adolescents and young adults born around the turn of the millennium, which currently comprises around 1.2 billion people under 30 years of age.
Digital Salafism
As part of the project, the ISD researchers analyzed almost 3.5 million Arabic, English and German-language posts on almost 1500 Salafist channels and accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, TikTok and a number of independent websites and small platforms . In doing so, they discovered that “digital Salafism” is a “cross-platform phenomenon”. This extends through established social media portals to the Discord gaming network, which is mainly used by younger people.
Six Discord servers alone with a “highly active collective membership of almost 5000 accounts” function according to the study as closed rooms in which activists “can discuss theology, coordinate attacks on other servers and start new accounts and forays into other social platforms”.
In general, according to the results, Arabic- and English-speaking Salafist profiles each have an audience in the double-digit million range with an international following of 117 and 109 million people on all platforms. German-language content reached a significantly smaller audience with 3 million followers, which was probably due to its geographically more limited reach.
Salafist influencers now use “a wide range of formats to get in touch with different target groups,” says the report: “From long sermons and interactive questionnaires to stylized information videos, a wide range of Salafist channels offers content on all aspects of the Life. “
In largely gender-segregated online rooms, “binary black and white views of the supposedly only true Islamic attitude” on complex issues relating to topics such as gender roles, family life, sexuality, entertainment and education are spread, the scientists have found. This includes content that is specifically aimed at children.
Toxic content
In the entire ecosystem “numerous variants of toxic content can be found, from sectarianism to misogynistic content to the rejection of democracy,” the authors explain. While English- and German-speaking Salafist communities poisoned non-Muslim foreign believers such as Jews and Christians, Arabic-language posts on the Internet mainly focused on other Muslim groups such as Shiites and Sufis.
Overall, according to the analysis, Facebook is the most popular platform for Salafists. Telegram, YouTube comments and Instagram had “the highest proportion of toxic posts”, which indicates different moderation standards on the individual services.
The experts rated one in 20 Arabic-language and one in 30 English and German-language postings as “very toxic”. This included threatening and dehumanizing content as well as articles in which the superiority of one’s own religious community was emphasized.
On YouTube, a wide range of Salafist-inspired groups, including apolitical theorists and violent extremists, hold “a quasi-monopoly on searches on religion” and dominate videos on beliefs, the authors write. Sectarian clergymen were among the most influential online thought leaders, with millions of followers on Facebook and Twitter, with Zakir Naik and Mufti Menkii as central hubs.
Strong leading community
As the “spearhead of digital Salafism”, the researchers have identified a community with over 160,000 members who are strongly based on the culture of the US far-right Alt-Right. With this, the Muslim supporters shared “an increasing ideological convergence around the alleged moral decline of the West”. They felt it was necessary to return to an idealized “pure” society.
According to the study, this milieu is about a “self-confident digital uprising” against liberal Muslims, democracy and against LGBTQ + and women’s rights. This would make the hostile “targets of discrimination, marginalization or even violent threats”. A network of 22 Facebook pages and 20 Telegram channels with over 110,000 accounts serve as a workshop for the production of easily consumable content. In the process, Salafist references merge with appropriated references, for example from the Chan culture such as Pepe the Frog and GigaChads. Anti-Semitic stickers would be shared along with neo-Nazi content.
In liberal societies, this ideological mix is not easy to understand, say the observers. Many people in charge there could hardly understand how this content “affects the changed behavior patterns and feelings of belonging of Generation Z on the Internet”. In this, young people of the Muslim faith are increasingly in the line of fire in a war for identity. In a chaotic “post-factual” world, a clear value system that only differentiates between black and white offers supposed orientation and a strong sense of belonging. This is compounded by a digital playing field, the algorithms of which promote polarization.
The identified subculture “is not just about a narrowly defined threat from violent extremism,” say the researchers. Other potential democratic dangers that included disinformation, conspiracy theories and hatred would need to be considered. Such digital Salafist spaces defy “conventional approaches to moderation, intervention and prevention”.
Difficult to combat content diffusion
Despite their advocacy of violence, ideologues from the Shu’yabi school, for example, which justified the 9/11 attacks, and groups like Tauhid Berlin, can operate on mainstream platforms for a long time, the scientists complain. This often only changes when “the authorities officially take action against them”. Operators like TikTok “seem to be struggling to continuously and consistently keep their platform free of harmful Salafist accounts that they have previously blocked”.
According to the recommendations, a data dashboard could be helpful “to visualize the meaning and toxicity of certain Salafist narratives in real time”. Governments should also “take a systemic approach” to platform regulation “as part of a comprehensive set of preventive approaches that promotes meaningful transparency in decision-making, algorithms and governance”. A system “to support civil society responses” should also be tried out.
(olb)