Understanding Media Jihad

Understanding Media Jihad offers a comprehensive examination of how Salafi-jihadi organisations use the internet as a tool of strategic communication. Drawing on multiple research projects conducted since 2020 and employing methods such as open-source intelligence, social network analysis, and comparative content analysis, this book traces the origins, evolution, and defining features of contemporary media jihad. It analyses how violent extremist organisations construct and sustain complex online information ecosystems, attract and radicalise audiences, and produce and disseminate propaganda across diverse digital platforms. Based on an unprecedented dataset comprising nearly 1,300 communication channels and more than 29,000 propaganda releases, the study examines both visible and less evident dimensions of online jihadist activity, including thematic messaging, recruitment strategies, operational security standards, and evasive techniques designed to circumvent counterterrorism measures. This book will appeal to scholars and students of terrorism studies, security studies, media and communication, and Middle East politics, as well as policymakers and practitioners concerned with countering violent extremism in the digital age.

Miron Lakomy is a professor at the Institute of Political Sciences, the University of Silesia, Poland, and a non-resident fellow at the ITSTIME research centre in Italy. He is an open-source intelligence investigator with over fifteen years of experience in analysing online terrorist operations. During his academic career, he held visiting research positions at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the European University Institute, and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. He is a member of the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation Research Committee.

Introduction 1. The concept and origins of media jihad 1.1. Understanding online radicalisation 1.2. Why do Salafi-jihadi violent extremists use the internet? 1.3. Between theology and propaganda: exploring the concept of media jihad 1.4. A brief history of media jihad 1.4.1. The experimental phase: since the 1990s to the onset of the War on Terror 1.4.2. Global expansion: from the War on Terror to the Arab Spring 1.4.3. From apex to crisis: the evolution of the Islamic State's media machine 2. The nature of the Salafi-jihadi strategic communication on the internet 2.1. Exploring classic formats of media jihad 2.2. How do the media mujahideen influence the target audiences? 2.3. Measuring the Salafi-jihadi terrorist propaganda output in the post-pandemic period 2.3.1. What do we know about the past Salafi-jihadi propaganda production? 2.3.2. Methodological considerations 2.3.3. Measuring the Salafi-jihadi terrorist propaganda output in 2023 and 2024 2.3.4. Technical features and thematic landscape of the Salafi-jihadi propaganda (2023-2024) 2.4. Organisation of the Salafi-jihadi media apparatus 2.5. The impact of generative artificial intelligence on the Salafi-jihadi propaganda production 3. Mapping the structure and evolution of the Salafi-jihadi information ecosystem 3.1. Identifying the core layers of the Salafi-jihadi propaganda distribution networks 3.1.1. The surface web 3.1.2. The deep web 3.1.3. The dark web 3.1.4. Messaging apps 3.2. The Salafi-jihadi information ecosystem in 2023-2024: a social network analysis 3.2.1. Methodology 3.2.2. Structure and evolution of the Salafi-jihadi information ecosystem (2023-2024) 3.2.2.1. Quantitative findings 3.2.2.2. Identifying essential features of the Salafi-jihadi information ecosystem (2023-2024) 3.3. Learning and adapting: media mujahideen responses to online preventing and countering violent extremism efforts Conclusions