Jihad Selfie Review and Why Technology Could Be Our Boomerang.
As the development of the technology getting more advance, many people began using it as a media to promote their self. Not only for promoting a person, but a social media can be also used to promote group or company/association/etc. It is merely can be used by anybody, anywhere without restriction. Government used it for business and bilateral use, some companies used technology for enlarging their business, police used it for nation security. But, if the good can uses it, the bad can be too. Many crime association and groups used technology to steal, abuse, and kidnap someone. In the past few years, one group that address themselves as Islamic Country, began using the technology to recruit the new member. The name of that “Islamic Country” is ISIS. What’s their motives and how technology could be a really dangerous boomerang for our self?
ISIS deliberately uses Social media to promote their self, it is mentioned from The United States President as they discovered that ISIS used social media such as YouTube and Facebook to brainwash the adolescence. They manipulate the brain and disillusioned the Muslim. The recent documenter in title of “Jihad Selfie”, we found that they are really use the social media as a medium to send their message. But how the young could be so eager to join ISIS? Why they are so tempted that ISIS fight for good? As we proceed into the documentary, we found that ISIS merely targets the children who are away and far from their home. It is easier when we want to manipulate someone when he/she has no one protecting. Parents cannot help their children in this moment, and thus, what ISIS seek for.
The issue is why technology that should be used to help people now used for crime? ISIS is terrorist organization which using Islam as their shield. When we mentioned ISIS, Islam comes first. We associate the term of ISIS with “Islam” and we began associating the word “Islam” as “Radical”. As we identify that the meaning of word “Islam” slightly changing upon the ISIS using it. As we know from the documentary, ISIS can easily recruit the new member by only persuade them from Internet. AS we can see, lots of people fall for that Trap. They have strong motives that religion could bring salvation for them and they spread their ideology trough video and uploaded in YouTube. As we do some searching, we found that there are lots of method uploaded on how to be ISIS member. Exactly the same as what the witness said in the documentary.
During the last part of the documentary, the eye witness who were insisted to join ISIS change his mind and he then decided not to join ISIS, but instead, he going back to Indonesia. How it is possible? The answer is parents’ power. ISIS might be able to brainwash the children, but, as long as we have someone who look after us, we began to think normally. Bagus was tempted to join ISIS because he believes that that what Allah want and he want to die by doing Jihad. But then, he has this worry about making his parents sad. Thus, the feeling of not want to be part of ISIS emerged. He began to realize that it is not what Islam is. ISIS is not Islam and thus leads him to his path now.
As the development of technology, we have to be smart upon using them. We have to use the technology for good, we are not using them for fooling around and do some crimes that could take someone lives. Technology is used for good and created for good, none of them are meant to be used for crime. If ISIS used the technology for recruiting the new member, we can fight against them through technology as well. We have to protect someone we love from being manipulated. Joining any deviant activity might be not a good solution when you are sad. You have to think about the consequences and the impact for your family and the world. Technology is created for us to make us easier gaining new information and knowledge, not to pursue crime.
Bibliography
Merchant, Y. (n.d.). How ISIS Recruits Through Social Media. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from fordhampoliticalreview.org: http://fordhampoliticalreview.org/how-isis-recruits-through-social-media/
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