Sawab Center Intensifies its Media War on Daesh

• Sawab’s campaigns continue to identify and report Daesh members’ social media accounts
• Global efforts unite to eliminate the presence of Daesh on social media sites

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 8 February, 2016 – The Sawab Center, a joint initiative by the United Arab Emirates and the United States to fight Daesh extremist ideology online, has intensified its efforts to identify and report the terrorist organization’s social media accounts. The Center has previously initiated successive campaigns to reveal methods employed by the organization to spread its extremist ideologies and to promote its criminal activities online.

Through its campaigns, the Sawab Center has raised awareness about the importance of reporting Daesh accounts and has involved social media activists and the public in this process by explaining how to identify such accounts by tracing the hashtags, keywords, methodology, and tactics used by Daesh supporters.

The Sawab Center emphasizes that the fight against extremism is no longer an individual responsibility, but rather a collective one. All social media users should report Daesh accounts and prevent the spread of Daesh propaganda by not retweeting or reposting Daesh messages, given that sharing any such content inadvertently promotes the organization and its message.

The Center also seeks to inform communities about the dangers of joining extremist groups and the crucial importance of the global community’s support in drying up the resources of the organizations and curbing their spread. In turn, the Center is pleased with the progress that has been achieved internationally in the efforts to eliminate Daesh’s presence online, as evidenced by Twitter’s recent announcement that it has suspended 125,000 accounts affiliated with the terrorist organisation.

The Sawab Center underscores the need for global social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and others to continue their efforts to suspend accounts that support extremist ideologies and contribute to the dissemination of messages of hatred and intolerance. The Center is continuously working with concerned companies and organizations to reduce Daesh’s influence online, stressing that the media effort against the organization is as important as the military and humanitarian efforts undertaken by the international coalition.

Sawab Center focuses on delivering fact-based, accurate and credible information without distortion or exaggeration. This approach has helped the Center to build credible and highly interactive social media platforms that showcase moderate and enlightened voices. The number of hits and views of the Center’s campaigns has surpassed 679 million to date.

Since commencing its activities on 8 July, 2015, the Center has worked to amplify the voices of moderation against Daesh by using social media platforms and allowing the silent majority to express their opinions. The Center also seeks to expand its reach as part of efforts to fight radicalization and digital terrorism.