One year on, Sawab Centre continues to expose Daesh’s bankrupt ideology online

ABU DHABI, 12th July, 2016 (WAM) -- After its first year in operation, the Sawab Centre has made significant strides in marshalling an online community to combat Daesh’s poisonous ideology. A joint UAE-US initiative launched last July, Sawab has made its assertive presence felt on social media, giving voice to the millions of people around the world who oppose Daesh, and catalysing a strong network of online followers who reject violence and support peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies. Active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, Sawab has amassed over 104,000 followers on Twitter and close to 250,000 on Facebook. To date, the Sawab Centre has undertaken ten pro-active social media campaigns to expose the truth behind Daesh propaganda. Campaigns have focused on defectors from Daesh, the terrorist group’s treatment of women and children, and foreign fighters. In other campaigns, Sawab has amplified positive stories about trailblazing women, national pride, and humanitarian activities. Through its messages, Sawab also highlights the damage that Daesh is doing to the socio-religious fabric of different communities, including its ongoing depredations against religious minorities as well as its reign of terror in areas under its control in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. Sawab frequently enlarges on stories and testimonials of those who have suffered under Daesh, including Yazidis, Christians, and Muslims. The Sawab Centre also challenges Daesh’s wilful distortion of the true values of Islam, a subterfuge which Daesh uses to lure in the weak-minded, the criminal element, and those who have a superficial understanding of Islam. For instance, Sawab frequently highlights that Daesh contravenes essential tenets of Islam such as mercy and compassion. As evidence, Sawab has highlighted passages from the Quran and collaborates with religious scholars from Al-Azhar and other institutions to provide illustrative examples from the life of the Prophet (PBUH). The Sawab Centre is also adept at using trending hashtags to reach a wider audience. In a recent case in which two Daeshi brothers murdered their mother in Saudi Arabia, Sawab was able to add its voice to the online conversation during the highest-intensity phase following the breaking news. Sawab was similarly active in the immediate aftermath of the Paris and Istanbul attacks. Since its launch, the Sawab Centre has actively sought to encourage governments, communities and individual voices to engage proactively to counteract Daesh online. Leading by example, Sawab has reported thousands of Daesh accounts for suspension and also helps crowd source efforts by producing videos instructing users how to report Daesh accounts on various social media platforms, contributing to the worldwide effort to delete Daesh propaganda from the virtual space. As it presses ahead into its second year, the Sawab Centre will continue to embolden social media activists and users, especially in the Middle East and North Africa region, to join in this shared effort to counter Daesh’s destructive and insular vision and promote instead a message of tolerance, inclusivity, and coexistence. - Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395297633079.html