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AMMAN — Although extremist groups employ several art forms and technologies in order to spread their ideology, art can also function as a tool to counter radicalisation and emphasise common values, experts said Sunday.
Hanaa Ramli, a consultant in the field of information technology and Internet culture, cited extremist groups' circulation of "bloody" images and videos showing acts of violence over social media outlets as "a phenomenon that violates humanity's values".
Ramli made the remarks at a panel on the role of art in confronting extremism, which was held at Amman's Royal Cultural Centre as part of the Karama Human Rights Film Festival.
Social media users who share violent material produced by extremist groups, even for the purpose of condemning their actions, are just as involved in spreading radical thought as those who create such material and seek to spread fear amongst the people, she said.
The consultant cited YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook as the most common outlets utilised by extremist groups to spread their ideology, noting that although administrators of these outlets have closed thousands of accounts that violate their rules, extremists remain able to create new ones.
She cited as an example the Twitter accounts run by terrorists that post over 40,000 tweets on a daily basis.
Sharing violent material involves dangers other than promoting extremist ideology, Ramli stressed, highlighting that posting images of shattered body parts of victims of explosions or armed conflicts also represents an abuse of social media tools.
She noted that such content is rarely preceded by warnings to protect children, the sick or pregnant women.
"Terrorist work is not the act of killing per se, but the videos of it that are produced with the aim of terrorising people," Egyptian director and producer Sherif Mandour said, adding that those who share terrorist videos serve the purposes of extremist groups.
He noted that technological advancements provide "affordable and easy-to-use" software that terrorists can use to deliver their chosen messages through fabricated videos and fictional films.
"It is a war that uses a very crucial weapon [media] and aims to kill spectators' innocence," Mandour argued.
In contrast, Johanna Schwartz, an award-winning American-born filmmaker based in the UK, shared her experience of art's role in countering extremism in Mali in her film "They Will Have to Kill Us First."
The 100-minute film depicts the struggles of Malian musicians in the wake of an extremist takeover and the subsequent prohibition of music. The Malians were so committed to music as an essential means of self-expression that they were willing to risk death at the hands of the militant groups.
The panel was organised in cooperation with Action Aid as part of the Karama Human Rights Film Festival, which is showcasing 70 narrative features, documentaries and animated films from 25 countries, with the participation of over 20 filmmakers and prominent actors.