S-CAR Students Link Theory to Practice by Countering Extremist Rhetoric Online

Conflict 310/795: Engaging Violent Narratives was a course designed to give students the opportunity to respond to a real world problem. There was a need for the expertise and creativity of university students to overcome an issue that governments all over the world are struggling to counter - the use of social media by terrorist organizations to spread extremist rhetoric online and recruit foreign fighters. This is a growing problem, with the Islamic State being the most notable terrorist group undertaking these activities.

The problem was brought to the class through EdVenture Partners, an organization that acted on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It was a project entitled P2P: Challenging Extremism, the projects purpose was to provide students from different universities, in the US and abroad, with the information and funding needed for them to develop and implement a social media experimental campaign to counter extremism online, evaluate that campaign, and report its findings.

S-CAR students developed a social media strategy to promote tolerance, diverse perspectives, and empathy. Our three-part strategy hinged upon complicating the narrative of extremism and intolerance in order to challenge individuals to see the “other” differently and to see the strength in using non-violent methods to promote change. To do this, we used social media to share the stories that do not receive enough attention -  the ones that provide insight into the destructive cycles of violence, or that show how peaceful, action-oriented alternatives can drive positive change. We shared what we like to call, and also the name of our campaign, Unheard Stories.

Our pilot social media campaign included a short film, a series of video interviews, and a blog that were disseminated through popular social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wordpress, etc. The short fictional film gave insight into the destructive cycle of violence. It showed how two characters on opposite sides of the conflict dynamic had experiences that led to their choosing a violent path, but rather than reaching any of their desired outcomes, their actions only perpetuated the cycle of violence. The video interviews shared the stories of individuals who had experienced violent conflict and decided to choose a peaceful path. The purpose of these interviews was to spur conversation as to whether violence was justifiable, and to show and inspire non-violent methods. Lastly, the blog posts highlighted individuals who had overcome difficult struggles and how this inspired their positive work within their communities.

Overall, this three-part social media strategy was intended to provide a diversity of perspectives and encourage thoughtful discussion on the use of violence and alternative solutions in the hopes that it would increase empathy between individuals from different identity groups and empower individuals to be positive agents of change within their communities. By complicating the absolutist narrative of extremists, in which ‘everyone else’ is your enemy and violence is the only option, we provided a moderate forum within the online space to reduce the susceptibility of vulnerable youth to extremist ideology.  
Although this was a pilot project, the work of this class and that of the other universities has the potential to inform the U.S. government’s strategy as it works to counter extremist rhetoric online. Equally important, this class provided S-CAR students with some much needed exposure and practice in the development and implementation of counter narratives - a skill we can now add to our peacebuilding tool kit. As S-CAR students, there is always a desire for taking action, that picture in your mind of working in the field and implementing conflict resolution tools, only to find yourself at a desk, probably part of a group circle, reserved to talking about theories. While those discussions are vital to our growth as conflict practitioners, as the different perspectives in the classroom challenge us intellectually, there is still the need for practice – to learn by doing. This is what the course Conflict 310/795: Engaging Violent Narratives provided. It turned the classroom experience into a practice component. We were given a problem and responded as a task force.

### Photo: Secretary Kerry Participates in the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism by Flickr user U.S. Department of State.