Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s standardized media and jihadist nation-state building efforts

Abstract

In its efforts to establish order and legitimacy among the people it once controlled, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria followed standardized and systematic nation-state building policies. The terrorist group attempted to establish an imagined jihadist nation-state with the assistance of standardized media productions and practices. These media productions that are examined in this article reflect Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s unified vision of the ultra-conservative society that it once intended to form in its different territories. I argue here that Islamic State in Iraq and Syria used standardized media productions to promote strict sharia laws including emphasis on men and women’s garments, distrust in secular rule, and calls for jihad in the different cities that it controlled. For Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, media is jihad and journalists are Mujahideen whose main purpose is to mobilize the masses and assist in creating a jihadist nation-state.

An onion with layers of hope and fear: A cross‐case analysis of the media representation of Tor Network reflecting theoretical perspectives of new technologies

“…22 In fact, Tor's overall perception is negatively affected by the constant demonisation of Dark Web technologies made by constant associations to criminal and antisocial behaviors, seeing as a haven for cybercrime. Previous research connects Tor to the development of new forms of cybercrime 23 ; crypto markets such as Silk Road [24][25][26][27][28] ; hacking sophistication 29 ; illegal file-sharing 30 ; distribution of child exploitation material 31 ; terrorism and far-right movements [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] ; trade of stolen data; and so on. The Dark Web to which Tor is constantly associated is seen an atrocious portion of the internet, constantly connected to harmful uses of the web, in a process previously conceptualized as a criminalisation of privacy.…”

The Significance of ISIS's State Building in Syria

“…75 It provided instructions to teachers and educators to remove all secular references from their teaching, which included deleting references to the "Syrian Arab Republic" and replacing the word "homeland" with "Islamic State." 76 Islamic outreach events (Da'wahs) imposed further restrictions on teachers, who were also required to undergo compulsory legal training. In areas where ISIS exerted extensive control, such as Deir ez-Zor, it provided primary-level education 67 Jihad is a willingness to target sects or ethnicities as "Kuffar" or "nonbelievers."…”