Digital society and combating extremism
Published: 03:09 PM,Sep 17,2024 | EDITED : 07:09 PM,Sep 17,2024
Our ongoing discourse about digital society does not imply that this society is uniquely characterised by intellectual and material properties that surpass previous societal patterns, such as the industrial society. However, current events and their unsettling incidents lead us back to the observations through which we can understand the mechanisms of event formation, their changes, and their relation to societal transformations. These insights enable us to comprehend the accompanying patterns of thought and culture that ultimately determine the collective behaviour of society.
Amidst these societal transformations, the blending of societies, including digital ones in our present, and their interaction with life events and incidents - such as those related to extremism with its various motives and goals - is inevitable according to the laws of life that necessitate the existence of good and evil. Nonetheless, extremism and terrorist incidents are not new phenomena exclusive to the digital age; instead, we are addressing present wounds that are escalating in our digital era.
Extremism manifests in many forms, including general religious extremism, sectarian extremism within the same religion, and racial extremism. We cannot define extremism precisely without considering its comprehensive meaning, which refers to the intellectual dysfunction in human society that calls for fighting against humanity and reducing its right to exist.
Today, in our digital era, which distinguishes itself from previous eras by its ability to remove humans from their spatiotemporal isolation and connect them to the outside world swiftly and accurately through what we know in our digital age as external data or information, one of these communicative capabilities is the rapid interaction of humans in the digital society with global events of all kinds, including incidents of extremism and terrorism that have directly or indirectly affected everyone.
It is evident that digital societal interaction with these events induces an unfamiliar psychological response in individuals, especially in countries unaccustomed to such scenes, like the Sultanate of Oman. In the wave of digital growth and its rise, we face numerous challenges, including the manufacture of awareness and its movement in terms of positive and negative production. The means of manufacturing societal awareness through digital means are numerous and varied, and they can be harnessed positively to update societal awareness patterns in ways that benefit humanity and its community.
Conversely, there are opposite dangers that threaten societal awareness through the same digital means, which can direct some individuals in societies to become ideologically blind minds working for the interests of terrorist organisations with political and economic interests.
In such cases, it is easy to see the rapid growth of extremist cells that can be produced quickly under digital developments and their many tools. We face a challenge related to the escalating crisis of extremism and terrorism, which could be a negative consequence of digital advancement if we do not understand its negative operational mechanisms and control them.
The concept of the digital society and its communicative and interactive capabilities surpasses our traditional understanding of the principle of globalisation; in an era of open data, including extremist ideas or news of resulting incidents, it is challenging - if not impossible - to stop their spread, where truth can easily mix with rumour and deliberate falsification. These have become part of the digital warfare system that can be used to undermine public opinion and distract its understanding of events and their processing. This is another challenge facing the digital society amid unregulated openness, which terrorist organisations strive to achieve to continue their criminal activities through misleading media and digital support.
The role of individuals in the digital society, especially those with intellectual and specialised backgrounds, is crucial. They bear the responsibility to focus on creating intellectual foundations that keep pace with the digital human mind, which cannot rely on traditional means to activate its foundations. Instead, we must first explore the nature of the digital mind, its thinking mechanisms, and access points. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the digital mind, we need to employ abstract thinking connected to the laws of the digital society and its intellectual developments. After that, we should investigate the sources of extremist thought and its trajectories, understanding its mechanisms and means of communication, especially modern ones aligned with digital advancement, like popular and hidden social media.
We possess numerous digital tools that can be harnessed to build societal awareness to confront and destroy any extremism phenomenon before it escalates. The priority lies in establishing societal awareness, which can be considered a safety valve and the first line of defence against extremism and its terrorist attacks. One of the most important aspects of societal awareness is the entrenchment of noble human morals as prescribed by Islam, and the deepening of citizenship and patriotism connected to loyalty to the nation and defending its land and achievements.
Among these digital tools supporting societal awareness projects is the artificial intelligence algorithm capable of precise and rapid analysis of large data sets related to intellectual, cultural, and religious orientations within societies. These data can be easily collected from digital means and platforms, and AI algorithms can analyse them, understand their interaction and activity, and determine priorities for countering harmful elements and building positive awareness that should reside within human societies, replacing any deviant thinking hostile to humanity and its existence.
Amidst these societal transformations, the blending of societies, including digital ones in our present, and their interaction with life events and incidents - such as those related to extremism with its various motives and goals - is inevitable according to the laws of life that necessitate the existence of good and evil. Nonetheless, extremism and terrorist incidents are not new phenomena exclusive to the digital age; instead, we are addressing present wounds that are escalating in our digital era.
Extremism manifests in many forms, including general religious extremism, sectarian extremism within the same religion, and racial extremism. We cannot define extremism precisely without considering its comprehensive meaning, which refers to the intellectual dysfunction in human society that calls for fighting against humanity and reducing its right to exist.
Today, in our digital era, which distinguishes itself from previous eras by its ability to remove humans from their spatiotemporal isolation and connect them to the outside world swiftly and accurately through what we know in our digital age as external data or information, one of these communicative capabilities is the rapid interaction of humans in the digital society with global events of all kinds, including incidents of extremism and terrorism that have directly or indirectly affected everyone.
It is evident that digital societal interaction with these events induces an unfamiliar psychological response in individuals, especially in countries unaccustomed to such scenes, like the Sultanate of Oman. In the wave of digital growth and its rise, we face numerous challenges, including the manufacture of awareness and its movement in terms of positive and negative production. The means of manufacturing societal awareness through digital means are numerous and varied, and they can be harnessed positively to update societal awareness patterns in ways that benefit humanity and its community.
Conversely, there are opposite dangers that threaten societal awareness through the same digital means, which can direct some individuals in societies to become ideologically blind minds working for the interests of terrorist organisations with political and economic interests.
In such cases, it is easy to see the rapid growth of extremist cells that can be produced quickly under digital developments and their many tools. We face a challenge related to the escalating crisis of extremism and terrorism, which could be a negative consequence of digital advancement if we do not understand its negative operational mechanisms and control them.
The concept of the digital society and its communicative and interactive capabilities surpasses our traditional understanding of the principle of globalisation; in an era of open data, including extremist ideas or news of resulting incidents, it is challenging - if not impossible - to stop their spread, where truth can easily mix with rumour and deliberate falsification. These have become part of the digital warfare system that can be used to undermine public opinion and distract its understanding of events and their processing. This is another challenge facing the digital society amid unregulated openness, which terrorist organisations strive to achieve to continue their criminal activities through misleading media and digital support.
The role of individuals in the digital society, especially those with intellectual and specialised backgrounds, is crucial. They bear the responsibility to focus on creating intellectual foundations that keep pace with the digital human mind, which cannot rely on traditional means to activate its foundations. Instead, we must first explore the nature of the digital mind, its thinking mechanisms, and access points. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the digital mind, we need to employ abstract thinking connected to the laws of the digital society and its intellectual developments. After that, we should investigate the sources of extremist thought and its trajectories, understanding its mechanisms and means of communication, especially modern ones aligned with digital advancement, like popular and hidden social media.
We possess numerous digital tools that can be harnessed to build societal awareness to confront and destroy any extremism phenomenon before it escalates. The priority lies in establishing societal awareness, which can be considered a safety valve and the first line of defence against extremism and its terrorist attacks. One of the most important aspects of societal awareness is the entrenchment of noble human morals as prescribed by Islam, and the deepening of citizenship and patriotism connected to loyalty to the nation and defending its land and achievements.
Among these digital tools supporting societal awareness projects is the artificial intelligence algorithm capable of precise and rapid analysis of large data sets related to intellectual, cultural, and religious orientations within societies. These data can be easily collected from digital means and platforms, and AI algorithms can analyse them, understand their interaction and activity, and determine priorities for countering harmful elements and building positive awareness that should reside within human societies, replacing any deviant thinking hostile to humanity and its existence.