Every November I hop a plane for Berlin to attend Online Educa and enjoy a bit of Old Europe. Berlin is not really old; in 1945 the Allies bombed it to cinders. The historic buildings are reproductions. But Berlin feels old, stable, solid, and cultured, as if it has been here forever.
Online Educa itself is thirteen years old, an incredibly long run in the eLearning business. The first meeting took place in the east zone; now Educa is the largest eLearning gathering in Europe.
Terrorism + Internet = Dangerous situation
My first day I attended the Third International Forum on eLearning for Defence and Security. It took place the day before Online Educa.
Mahan Abedin, a scholar with the Centre for the Study of Terrorism, www.cfsot.com, kicked things off with a description of the dark side.
How terrorists use the net
Terrorists love the net. It’s anonymous. They use it for recruiting, propaganda, training, legitimizing violence,
Terrorist video is compelling: a clever mixture of fact, fiction & half-truth. Elaborate narratives. Also training on bomb manufacture, crypto. Governments are unable to present a counter-narrative. We have failed to counter this: government sponsorship breeds distrust. (“I’m from the government and I have come to help you.”) Labeling one side terrorists does not help establish dialog. In Iraq, blogs are more credible than the Iraqi government.
The web is great for recruiting. Terror sites justify violent action. Videos of martyrs are moving. The web sites desensitize violence. They route around local clerics.
None of the suggested cures for the problem were very compelling.
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