"Misuse of social media for online extremism and online radicalization and how to counter it"

The dawn of the new millennium emerged as a social dilemma. The proliferation of social media has become a tool of fifth-generation warfare (5GW). Nevertheless, these platforms are used for the radicalization of political, religious, or ethnic extremism digitally. Many extremist incidents are recorded globally inspired by digital information available on the dark web. Such as how to assemble a Bomb, Jihadi liberations, structural violence, etc. Social media has become handy enough to increase social affluence. Active participation on social media has become the norm in society, Statista reports. Thus, social media platforms have manifold implications. For instance, Politicians use social media platforms to increase their vote bank, while clergies and others use these platforms to spread their ideology. In one way or another, all contribute to inciting fanatic feelings among members of society. Everyone is adversely affected by false information shared a social media. Among all, the most vulnerable are the youth. However, in the given situation, violent video games have exaggerated things. As clearly defined in Canadian Constitution, violent video games have developed individuals with deviant behaviors. The incident in New Zealand is one of many incidents that occur as a result of the impact of violent video games. In a nutshell, excessive use of social media is wreaking the machinery of society. Albeit the negative impacts of social media are massive the advantages of social media cannot be underpinned. Various methods can help to reduce the severity of Zealous attitude. The international law enforcement bodies must put certain restrictions on social media organizations to refrain the users from putting any unethical material or hate speech as information that can egg extremism. While on the national level, the governments of various countries already have enacted laws and put sanctions on any unlawful activity on social media platforms. However, some efforts must be made on the ground level by social institutions to reduce the misuse of social media.

The usage of social media has phenomenally increased in the last couple of years. The rapid increase in social media users has a variety of reasons ranging from socialization, entertainment, education, health, work from home, e-commerce and much more. According to Statista (online data analysis) repost, there are approximately 4466 billion active users on social media. The increasing trend in social media connectivity is a pall of gloom on society.

“Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse”

A precise but vociferous saying by Sophocles. The massive use of social media brings enormous social evils such as racism, religious fanatics, political conflicts through e-polling and others. Leading individuals to self-isolation and detachment from society. An estimation posted on Al-Jazeera shows that 33 pc of the world's population suffers from various psychological disorders. Caused by the excessive use of social media platforms. These platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, WeChat and thousands more. These platforms can provoke feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among individuals. Resulting in high rates of suicide cases. Due to various mental and emotional illnesses. The root cause of mental illness is manipulated information available on the Internet. This eventually caused chaos in society. As well as developing individuals with dubious mindsets. On the other hand, the emotional health of an individual is impacted by the availability of digital pacifiers. Tristan Harris explained

"We are training and conditioning a whole new generation of people that when we are uncomfortable or lonely or uncertain or afraid we have a digital pacifier for ourselves that is kind of atrophying our own ability to deal with that.”

Individuals are becoming more anxious due to unrealistic and unachievable perceptions of perfection entrenched by social media. Thus, depression and anxiety are very common issues in our generation. The individuals are curating their lives around this perceived sense of perfection because they get rewards in short term signals; hearts, likes, Thumbs-up and conflate it with value and truth. This fake short term bitter popularity leaves one even emptier and vacant Thus, social media becomes a vicious cycle of uncertainty.

Although, social media owners are well aware of the status quo. But, they are silent on this grave issue. Because they intentionally design social media platforms as pivotal. To grasp the intentions of users and made them addicted to these products So that they can serve the interest of bigwigs. Social media platforms erupted as a modern-day monopoly.

An American Computer Scientist illustrates it as:

"We are creating a world where online connection has become primary, especially for the younger generation. And yet, in that world, any time two people connect, the only way it is financed is through a sneaky third person. Who is paying to manipulate those two people. So, we have created an entire generation of people within the context with the very meaning of communication, the very meaning of wellness is manipulation".

Nevertheless, Social media is a strong platform for communication and networking. But exposure to excessive information is shifting socio-political loyalties and developing beliefs based on false manipulated information. Thus, the information shared on these platforms has manifold objectives.

Thereof, the increasing cyberspace provides fertile ground for the battle of narratives and also acts as enablers for hybrid Threats, Thus complicating the challenges of perception management. This narrative and perception battle is titled 5th generation warfare (5GW). 5GW is an expansion of Asymmetrical and Insurgent Warfare with the evolution of faded boundaries. 5GW is defined as, "unrestricted Warfare that uses all means, whatsoever". The means could be conventional or unconventional to achieve socio-political or religious goals or set of goals. The 5GW was first coined in 1999 in the book "Unrestricted Warfare" and described its rules as,

“The first rule of unrestricted warfare is that there are no rules, with nothing forbidden.”

This summarized 5GW as truly a war of nets and jets. Networking is used to build networks of individuals who understand the socio-psychology of people in their society. This can influence and spread a specific ideology. While jets include tools and equipment used in this regard for instance; Facebook, Twitter, the dark web and other social media platforms. Sensor tower (monitoring firm) brings fore the factual figure that around millions of tweets are created and posted daily in 2021. This, however, shows how efficient and vigilant people are around the globe. Twitter has become one the most effective platform that is being used for multiple purposes, like running online campaigns, e polling and chat groups on socio-political issues. In due course, it is also used to share official announcements by authorities to interact with the public. Besides the general public and official connectivity on social media. The internet also facilitates fanatic and Zealous to find and connect to like-minded people. The internet become the instrument for terrorist to communicate and spend their propaganda. The individual, who once needed to cross borders faces strict protocols for interactions with others. Now are free from all kinds of social, legal, and border obligations. This new form of fanaticism is termed "New Terrorism".

New Terrorism ideology is significantly increased after the 9/11 incident which has remarkably influenced the youth. Since the internet has provided an uninterrupted line of communication and removed the barriers to physical interactions, such as training camps. This increases the process of radicalization exponentially. Hence, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) termed/ named online radicalization as Homegrown Terrorism or Self-radicalization, As a result of the MI6 investigation. This incident London Bridge (2019) attack blew the whistle of authority. As, Sulaman Ramadan Abedi, the attacker of the incident was a loyalist and good citizen. The interrogative report of the incident shows a bleak piece. As Abedi was influenced and inflicted by online radicalization.

Online radicalization can be simply defined as, a process by which one embarrasses radical beliefs that are in line with the ideology of terrorist organizations. This, however, does not requires physical affiliation. Terrorists use social platforms or the dark web to recruit individuals and do Terrorist activities around the globe. Nevertheless, online - radicalization and extremism are not restricted to certain doctrines and purposes. It serves multifaceted terrorist ideologies. Such as political, religious, racism and sectarian violence. An example of political radicalization has been witnessed in India. Indian political leaders call for the Rohingya model for Muslims of India. This leads to cyberbullying and reignites the Hindu-Muslim conflict in India. This, however, was strongly criticized by United Nations (UN) Human Rights watchdog. Undoubtedly, social media has become the root cause of many extremist activities around the globe. Concurrently violent video games have added insult to injury. The terrorist attack of Christchurch in 2019 shows the slashing impact of violent video games. Violent video games are one of the major causes of aggressive behavior among adolescents. Therein lies the truth that misuse of social media is a grinding halt for society. But the use of social media cannot be banned and neither it should be. Through proper scrutiny and proper organization, the impacts of social media can be minimized.

"The most violent element in society is ignorance."

The foremost responsibility in this regard is of parents and teachers. Parents must monitor what their children are watching, restrict screen time, and most importantly communicate with them. Teachers must keep eye on students' behavior and changes occurring in behaviors. Simultaneously, International and National policymakers must play the role in this regard. There must be proper legislation to control the proliferation and activities of social media. Which is still the most an oversight area.

The United Nations charter, however, had provided certain guidelines for social media users. For instance, think before posting - the information shared on social media is stored forever, the behavior on social media is not exempted - It shows your personality style and personal interests, be aware of privacy sitting - personal and social accounts must be managed wisely, always keep in mind official news comes from authority not from a Facebook post, respect the privacy of others as well, think twice before sharing any information, and must be abstained from hatred, racial discrimination, and religious or political fanatic posts.

"If you're not paying then you're the product"

All social media are free of cost. The users enjoy a variety of services. But at what cost? The information collected by social media is sold to the highest bidder. Thus, utilized by marketers, politicians, clerics and others to serve their interests. The backlash against Facebook in the 2016 US presidential election, exemplified how social media data is being misused.

China's modal of Social Media control is the best illustration of how to control activities on social media. China is using state of the art internet security Cyber protocols to prevent any kind of mishap on social media. Pakistan has introduced Pakistan Electronic Crime Act (PECA 2010) to combat the challenges of social media. However, in the global arena, Pakistan has not any solid grounds to prevent the effects of social media. Pakistan must figure out a way to have a "Mutual Assistance Treaty with Us" since most of the social media platforms are based in the US. Side by side, Pakistan must make efforts to become a signatory of the cybercrime convention named "Budapest Convention". Both these agreements will help Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) cooperation with social media. The legal lacking, however, hinders the efficiency of the National counter Violent Extremism Policy (NCVE 2021).

"Security of Pakistan rests in the security of its citizen”.

(Imran Khan)

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (PEMRA) must take the lead role in this regard. The citizens must be trained and informed about the impacts of social media through various campaigns. Information technology must be made into interdisciplinary studies of social sciences. Proper education about cyber ethics and social media behavior must be given. The most important is improving cybersecurity protocols. So, that private information is protected from unauthorized users.

"War has two natures, Objective' and subjective. The former is permanent while the latter is subject to frequent change."

(Clausewitz)

The subjectivity of the contemporary war has been changed. Now, it is the war of narrative for which social media is being used. Social media platforms become the spearhead of online radicalization. The boundaries are dissipated, which makes the situation even more complicated to differentiate between internal and external enemies. Through proper planning and strategical legislation, this grave issue can be addressed. Therefore, extremism activities occurring due to “Homegrown Terrorism” can be controlled. The benefits of social media cannot be underpinned, however, overtightening of its proliferation can cause catastrophe. Social media users must be mindful of their Activities and privacy in cyberspace. The misuse of social media is an albatross around the neck of individuals and national prosperity.