Analysis & Opinions - OpenCanada

Who is Winning the Syrian Digital War?

Author:

Christopher Anzalone

| October 20, 2016

Overview

"The Syrian war has been, for good and often for ill, an incubator for developing new tools and strategies for digital conflict. OpenCanada asked five experts to give their perspectives on actors that they believe have been successful innovators in cyberspace. Whether any of these actors "win" the Syrian war, their digital strategies will likely be with us for a long time."

The Forces of Sectarianism

The Syrian conflict is not at its heart a war between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, but on the physical and media battlegrounds the proponents of sectarian hate and apocalyptic conflict are gaining ground.

If any single group is 'winning' the Syrian conflict online, it appears to be the ideologues of division, religious intolerance and sectarian hate. Thousands of social media users post sectarian rhetoric and factional vitriol on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and online discussion forums. Many argue for the inevitability of an apocalyptic 'final' battle pitting Sunnis against Shi’ites and Alawites. But by framing the conflict as both primordial and unavoidable, they obscure the contemporary economic grievances, states' interests and geopolitical gamesmanship that are at play....

Continue reading: https://www.opencanada.org/features/who-winning-syrian-digital-war/#anzalone-the-forces-of-sectarianism

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office

For Academic Citation: Anzalone, Christopher.“Who is Winning the Syrian Digital War?.” OpenCanada, October 20, 2016.