HOW TO FACE TERRORISM AS A PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

THE ROLE OF YOUNG GENERATION IN COUNTER-TERRORISM

HOW TO FACE TERRORISM AS A PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

Terorist, these days are generally considered to be rational in their belief and in their behaviour. They certainly claim to be. Occasionally there will be random impulsive acts of destruction, those that hit the headlines. But the evidence points to individuals, usually member groups thinking out their objectives and then carefully planning how best to achieve them.

Young generation holding a significant strategic role and importance. Youth give enlightenment thought or changing mindset. From radical to moderate and tolerance. Terrorism is a world growth industry. Universally now, its said terrorism requires a global response in counter-terrorism and young generation respond it. The role of young generation is needed nowadays.  They are very good at using advances in technology and communication. Especially now that the terrorist groups in several  sites around the world carefully utilize the convenience offered by technology and communication to achieve its objectives.

Then, what will young generation do to counter-terrorism? There are many ways for young generation, such as promoting human rights, promoting cross-cultural dialoque, education and media literacy. But I will focus to talk  about media literacy.

Promoting Human Rights

There are clear link between propaganda, the promotion of hate and violence, and the mobilization and recruitment of terrorists. Youth have to promoting human rights, especially social and economic rights. Because it can reduce the disparities and inequities that fuel radicalization and facilitate terrorist recruitment.

Promoting Cross-Cultural Dialogue

Related to the overall attempt to embed counter-terrorism in a human rights framework and to reach out to communities where radicalization and terrorist recruitment are significant risks, is the promotion of dialogue between cultures. The belief is that if peoples of different cultures, tradition, religions, or worldviews could engage in dialogue, misunderstanding could be cleaned up and common ground could likely be found. This is what the youth need to promote harmony of peace, especially Indonesia has many cultures.

Education

Education was stressed as an important element in efforts to improve public understanding of the nature of the terrorist threat and the feasibility and practicality of different counter-terrorism measures, as well as in countering undesirable beliefs and perceptions in the terrorist’s constituency. Education can also help in creating a social and political environment that is sensitive to human rights and mutal understanding across culture and civilizations.Youth can make education campaign and involve in education  at school, college, communities, worship place, and anywhere to strengthening respect for human rights, promoting understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all racials, ethnic, or religious groups, and furthering the maintenance of peace.

Media Literacy

Media literacy is a skill that we think it is not important. If we think mass media (a part of mass communication) are important to create and preserve opinion, then media literacy as a skill we must enhance. More recently, terrorist groups have become sophisticated about controlling messages for broadcast and distribution. Some terrorist have resorted to producing their own videos for selective release to news entities in the understanding that such material will be broadcast to a larger audience. The use of this message or video can have different effects for the multiple audiences it reaches. The message can contain violence/destruction that terrorist did before, recruitment, fear, anxiety and etc. This is a larger process of communicating a message and generating a desired response and now we can realize that terrorism as communication process and young generation have to ward it.

Media literacy is not the best way to stop terrorist, because as long as there are poverty, injustice and global discrepancy, terrorist will be exist. But media literacy is enough important for counter-terrorism. Media literacy will aware public how influential mass media in the life.

So, what is the role of young generation have to do in media literacy for counter-terrorism? Of course young generation have to do media literacy campaign. This can be done for anyone, youth can make a group and start the campaign to schools, colleges, hold seminars, talk in social media and many more. Teen and Youth are vulnerable to be recruited by terrorist and be one of them. Teen and youth are very easy to access variety of information from media without know the information is valid or not. That’s because terrorist use media as a tool of propaganda.

We know that mass media have significant role to create opinion. Pro-western and anti-terror media is very clear to do covering religious leaders opinions that pro-western and discrediting Islam. So as anti-western and pro-terror media tend to blow up opinions that attack western and understand act of terrorism and support it.  That’s why public can hate western  or terrorism or muslim or  western and muslim or terrorism and muslim. Its all about media!!

This is to be the role of young generation to illuminate the thought and media literacy for counter-terrorism is very important. Why I said its very important? Because nowadays, especially in big city, there is no more opinion leader like chief of tribe to filter information. All have been replaced by technology. So, anyone can receive information from anywhere. Only the individuals themselves can filter the information. 

But how the individual can protect from false or wrong information? There is no media literacy studies in school even in college, except at communication studies. For now, our country think that media literacy is not important. This is a weakness. But this weakness can be used by young generation as role for counter-terrorism. Young generation can do media literacy campaign to make an ability to think critically about media content, no matter what how credible the source, to understand about process of mass communication, awareness about media effect toward individual and public, to analyze and discuss the message of media.

Young generation do media literacy campaign for counter-terrorism. It doesn’t mean make public will be anti-media and don’t want  to use media but the purpose this campaign is public can filter any information, especially about terrorism. Even, if public have media literacy skill, this may not shield us from physical dangers of terror violence and destruction. But media literacy can help us to understand why we feel threatened by this violence and how terrorist operates the message as their communication by using mass media.

The spirit of young generation is a power for nation to build nation become strong. But this spirit has to be manifested to be real action. We are now facing global war against terrorism. We need young generation to stop it. Counter terrorism is not the role for government forever. Now, young generation must take a part of it. I believe that one day the world become peace without  any fear of terrorism, because young generation will sit together in same table to take action for counter-terrorism.(DD)