‘Sawab Centre’ announces campaign to combat extremist propaganda

ABU DHABI: The Sawab Centre, a joint UAE-US initiative combating online propaganda by extremist groups and promoting positive alternatives, has announced the launch of a new campaign on its social media platforms, according to the UAE official news agency WAM.

The three-day campaign will start from today (Thursday) in Arabic, English and French on Sawab’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube platforms under the hashtag #DaeshTheDelusion.

The drive is the centre's 41st social media campaign countering extremism and presenting positive alternatives to violent and divisive ideologies. The campaign seeks to expose the lies and falsehoods of the extremists, who manipulate the truth in order to recruit followers and promote a false aura of righteousness and invincibility.

According to the study about extremism, the militants are known to monitor children who visit extremist sites or radical chat rooms and to befriend them, before manipulating them into committing violent acts. The hardliners operatives also target for radicalisation at-risk youths suffering from mental illness, living in broken homes or who have criminal backgrounds.

During the campaign, the Sawab Centre will highlight the losses of the Daesh extremist group from 2015 to the present day, the role of the ordinary citizen in the fight against extremism and how these terrorists brutally target houses of worship including mosques and churches.

The campaign also addresses the roots of terrorism and its devastating impact on the lives of those who suffer in an environment where extremist thought predominates. Since its launch in July 2015, the Sawab Centre has encouraged governments, communities and individual voices to engage proactively to counteract online extremism.

Over this time, the centre has given voice to the millions of people around the world who oppose extremist ideologies, while supporting efforts to expose terrorist groups’ brutality and criminal nature.