Extremist group shifts recruitment to cyberspace after real-world setbacks

Following its battlefield losses, al-Qaeda has pivoted to social media as its primary recruitment tool, targeting vulnerable and uneducated youth worldwide through propaganda campaigns, analysts said.

The group targets youth on popular social media platforms and draws them into extremism by exploiting their religious sentiments, poverty and lack of education, Kabul university professor Jawad Sarwari told Salaam Times.

In recent years, al-Qaeda has used "free and accessible platforms" to "spread its ideological messages worldwide," he said. "The main goal of this propaganda is to deceive young people and draw them into the group's ranks."

"In its propaganda, al-Qaeda focuses on the desperation and fragile conditions of Muslims in certain countries, targeting the religious emotions of youth and exploiting them," he said.

"Many of these young people, who suffer from severe poverty and illiteracy, are easily misled," with al-Qaeda luring them to engage in violent behavior and extremism through financial incentives and promises of paradise, Sarwari said.

"In countries where it is physically present, al-Qaeda recruits poor and uneducated youth in person," Kabul-based political analyst Toor Mohammad Noorzai told Salaam Times.

"But in areas where it lacks a direct presence, it uses social media to deceive and recruit young people," he said.

Digital battleground

With the fight against al-Qaeda now extending into the realm of cyberspace, there needs to be coordinated action from governments, tech companies and civil society, said Kabul university professor Mohammad Kabir Stanekzai.

"Just as this group is fought on the battlefield, there must be a serious and targeted confrontation in the virtual space as well," he told Salaam Times.

"To counter al-Qaeda's activities on social media, it is essential to spread peaceful, anti-terrorism and anti-extremism messages through public and digital media," he said.

"Moderate religious scholars play a crucial role in refuting al-Qaeda's anti-religious propaganda," Stanekzai added.

"Their messages, especially in areas where the risk of al-Qaeda's propaganda is higher, can play a vital role in neutralizing the group's messages."

"Al-Qaeda should not have the ability to spread extremism and terrorism through social media across the world," said Herat-based political analyst Abdul Quddus Delawar.

"As in the battlefields, efforts must also be made in cyberspace to stop the activities of this terrorist organization," he told Salaam Times.

"Due to the suppression of al-Qaeda on the battlefield and the elimination of most of its fighters, the group has lost its ability to recruit locally," he said.

"Cyberspace now offers a convenient opportunity for al-Qaeda to attract new members," he added, noting that defeating al-Qaeda in cyberspace and neutralizing its propaganda requires broad international cooperation.