UNM project tackles online extremism
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A lot of us are on social media. It’s how we stay in touch with family and friends. But there’s also a bad side to the instant technology. Violent extremists use social media as a tool, too. UNM students are launching a campaign to combat this new, dangerous online onslaught in a special campaign sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
From recruitment to radicalizing, terrorists have taken to Twitter and other social media platforms.
“It’s most people’s tendencies to focus on the unrest in the Middle East. ISIS is one of the primary violent extremist groups, but there are definitely other movements throughout the entire world,” said Bryan Mirabal, a senior at UNM’s Anderson School of Management.
With the click of a button, extremists at home also get their messages out on social media platforms.
“Violent extremism is something that’s on all our our purviews,” said Lauren Wade, a UNM senior at the business school.
The UNM project is called Know Extremism.
“There are over 46,000 estimated violent extremist accounts,” said Mirabal.
Their goal is to get millennials to speak out against violent extremism.
“Our main objective is to educate and give knowledge to these people so they can start mobilizing themselves and using social media to counter the narratives of extremist groups,” Mirabal said.
Just like extremists share their stories on social media, this program hopes millennials will serve as “speak outs” to raise awareness about extremist propaganda.
“A speak out would go and see our Twitter profile or our Facebook profile, see the message and share it,” said Wade.
Of the 45 schools, the top three will be invited to Washington, DC to share their strategy with the State Department and can win a scholarship.
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