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| tanuha2001via Getty Images |
By Anne Zeiser
Founder, Azure Media
We think ISIS is unique, but young people getting caught up in
extreme thinking isn't new. It's an age-old problem that's in play right now
throughout this country. Gang members in major cities, Columbine-like shooters,
fringe cults, and prisoners have all been radicalized or indoctrinated in the
U.S. through the exact same formula.
The formula: disenfranchized young men (mostly), raised with little
means and hope who are desperate for meaning, purpose, and
a sense of community fall prey to evil ideologies and
groups because they fulfill these deep-seated needs. The promise can range from
money, drugs, glory, redemption, or fame, but the need is the same. So at its
core, ISIS isn't a product of religion or even ideology, but a product of lack
of opportunity and hope. Its demented dogma channels that disenfranchisement
and its output is fear.
Extremists themselves reveal how to combat them. ISIS isn't a
country, a political force, or even a single entity with a clear leader. With
no centralized physical place, ISIS is everywhere -- literally and in our
minds. Its tentacles grow wider and deeper by the minute. So, bombing ISIS
targets does little good beyond making us feel a bit better. But ISIS does
inhabit one common place. Members plan, proselytize, recruit, and promote online. Sometimes covertly; sometimes
in plain sight. Digital is ISIS's main forum and its connective
tissue. That's where we should meet them head on.
Also, perception is paramount to terrorists. ISIS is motivated by
our fear and has little fear of their own, except for being marginalized,
humiliated, or killed by a woman so they won't go to
heaven. Loss of life is no deterrent to ISIS because they don't value
it the way we do. In fact, becoming a martyr and going to "paradise"
is an end-goal, bringing greater glory to the cause. But because they
understand life's supreme value to us, they artfully peddle their currency of
fear. A perception campaign that overcomes our fear and plays into
theirs could cut them off at the pass.
Can we combat the elusive ISIS? Absolutely. Simply reverse-engineer
the psychology of these radicalized extremists and wage war on the two most
powerful fronts -- an invisible digital trail and a visible digital trail.
The Invisible Digital Trail
The first line of defense uses the strategy of big data collection
and analysis to bring the hidden into full view. It may not sound sexy, but the
"1" and "0" are far mightier than the sword. That's because
the trail of data that each of us leaves is forever traceable. Where you go,
what you buy, and with whom you hang out all leave a digital footprint. That
also goes for almost every move of every member of ISIS.
War, now and forever, will be waged at a digital level. Not just
with bullets and bombs, but with algorithms and analysis. Digital geeks and
digital detectives are today's new warriors. They gather huge volumes of data,
program it to reveal key insights, and connect the dots to help us find the
pockets of ISIS members so we can root them out. Information gathering, data
sharing, and data analysis by free nations at the highest level is the most
effective means of nailing ISIS and thwarting their efforts.
So, the "silence" you hear and may misconstrue as
inaction, in fact is the stealth-like wheels of geek-dom in action.
Programmers, digital analysts, hackers, and even gamers are joining the cause.
And if you rankle at the idea of Google and Facebook "owning" your
personal data profile, ostensibly to upsell new products to you, remember that
same kind of data can also be used to keep us safe. This just may be one of
those moments when "Big Brother" can be used for the greater good.
The Visible Digital Trail
The second front is placing a vibrant collective consciousness
publicaly on everyday digital platforms in response to ISIS's exquisite PR
machine. They monitor our news and our social media, gleefully awaiting our
"Shock and Awe" after a successful attack. They're exultant as we
divide on whether to embrace the glut of their victims -- Syrian refugees. Yet
ISIS has killed more Muslims than people of any other
religion. They chortle as we miss the simple point of the Arab
proverb, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
And when we succumb to blind ignorance and cowardice by assuming all
Muslims are our enemy, we prove the very point ISIS is making about us. No
Muslim as president; closing U.S. Mosques; helping only Christian refugees;
requiring a Muslim registry. These impulses are as ignorant as our internment
of Japanese-Americans during WWII. And this thinking begins to enter the slippery slope
of Hitler's full-on delirium that Jews were the cause of society's evils. ISIS
has reverse-engineered the psychology of Americans and is watching us take the
bait of fear.
This is where you and I can make a big
difference. But, we cannot blink. We must fervently voice our resolve and
courage through an outpouring of compassion. We must not fear, but rather
embrace the Syrian refugees. They're also victims of ISIS, but have lost
everything. By doing the right thing in the name of humanity, we'll also win
the PR and social media war, disproving ISIS's claims about us. If you're
afraid there will be a few bad apples among those Syrian refugees, you'd be
right. They're in any given population -- at your school, in your workplace,
and your apartment complex. But that doesn't mean that they're agents of ISIS.
And for those who are, we can out-geek them.
In the end, doing the right thing always wins out over being a
coward. Now's the time to shed our cloak of fear and flood the digital universe
-- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Periscope and
every available web site and blog -- with support for all of ISIS's targets,
whether Western or not. Do it online and do it in practice. Invite refugees
into our communities, learn about their culture, show them the promise of the
U.S. By being fearless and compassionate we can snuff out the power of
terrorism over us.
The greatest humiliation for ISIS is if we are undaunted and are we
are a vocal digital majority. If we can do it for Marriage
Equality, we can do it against ISIS. The movement could be
#Fearless #EnemyofmyEnemy #Dauntless #GoodPrevails #DigitalLove #ISISLoses or
whatever you want to call it. Just show
ISIS that you're unassailable.
Anne Zeiser is a critically-acclaimed transmedia and
social impact producer and media strategist. She's stewarded films and iconic
series for PBS, produced news for CBS, managed national brands for marketing
firms, and founded Azure Media, which develops transmedia projects on air,
online, and on the go that fuel social impact in communities, in schools, and
in capitals. With media partners from PBS and the BBC to Miramax and Sikelia
Productions, Zeiser has successfully launched and marketed film studios and
media organizations, feature and documentary films, television series and
specials, mobile games and apps, and online video and media communities. She's the author of Transmedia Marketing: From Film and TV to Games
and Digital Media from Focal Press' American Film Market® Presents
book series.
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