Strategic communications: The Pakistan military’s use of social media against terrorism

Abstract

This study examines the Pakistan military’s strategic use of social media in encouraging and sustaining public support for the ongoing war against terrorism in Pakistan. Its findings indicate that the military used significantly different types of strategic frames in response to a fast-changing, evolving security situation in the country. Framing was used strategically to facilitate public–military and people-to-people engagements. Motivational frames were the most dominant forms of communication used to generate dialogue between the military and the public in the war against terrorism and to enhance public participation in it. This study also indicates that different frames used by Pakistan’s military on social media significantly mediated military engagement with different segments of society during the critical phases of Pakistan’s ongoing war against terrorism.

Accomplishments and Challenges of Pakistan’s Fight against Violent Religious Extremism: A Critical Analysis

“…Rumi (2015) emphasizes the cooperation between provinces to root out extremism through legislation. Khan (2020) narrated that Pakistan's National Assembly passed the National Counter-Terrorism Authority Bill in 2013. Taking another step on February 25, 2014, Pakistan announced its first-ever National Internal Security Policy (NISP) based on three elements: 1) dialogue with all stakeholders; 2) isolation of terrorists from their support systems and; 3) enhancing deterrence and capacity of security apparatus to neutralize the threats to the internal security of Pakistan.…”

“…They have been categorized into two extremes, i.e., whether they are more religious in thought and practice (tilted towards fundamentalism) or more secular. Khan (2011) observed that Pakistan is facing multifaceted threats -regionally, internationally, and domestically to its human security. A few of these arise due to intolerance, bigotry, militancy and terrorism both in the rural as well as in urban areas of the country and also because of its historical relationship with regional and nonregional powers that led to sectarianism, ethnicity, and financial insecurity in Pakistan.…”

The platformization of military communication: The digital strategy of the Israel Defense Forces on Twitter

“…The public display in online platforms has allowed for the investigation (as well as the adoption in self-representation strategies) of gendered perspectives (Stengel and Shim, 2019; Wright, 2019), the redefinition of military masculinities (Jester, 2021), or the visual construction of military bodies (Baker, 2020). Normalization is also demonstrated by the military’s commitment to strategically use ‘civil’ dialogue with users to counter or disclose traditional issues, such as terrorism (Khan and Pratt, 2020).…”

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“…The demand for this issue is indicated by a wide range of modern studies on this issue. For instance, M. Khan and K. Pratt investigated the composition of strategic communications through social media, their potential in countering terrorism, specifically through the use of frames (Khan & Pratt, 2022). R. Arcos and H. Smith highlight the threats of using information operations by hostile authoritarian actors aimed at spreading discord between partner countries and interfering in democratic processes (Arcos & Smith, 2021).…”