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@Rob_Malley and @NazModirzadeh interviewed @nytimes reporter @sheeraf on social media, the US capitol events and global conflicts for @CrisisGroup’s podcast. Here’s more on why you should listen… https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/social-media-and-us-capitol-events
@CrisisGroup highlighted the role of social media in covering last week’s mob violence at the U.S. Capitol: https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/thirteen-days-peril-managing-chaotic-end-trump-presidency
We wrote: "These events are the culmination of decades of polarisation that politicians have exploited to propel their careers, that social media algorithms have rewarded to boost their platforms’ popularity, and that have helped fuel the rise of white supremacist organisations."
Of course, this is not a new problem nor unique to the U.S. -- and @CrisisGroup’s researchers have written about it around the world in the past year. Here are a few other important examples…
@ArreyMcNtui and @richmoncrieff stressed the urgent need for social media platforms, especially Facebook, to do more to curtail online hate speech in Cameroon as offline tensions continue to worsen: https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/295-easing-cameroons-ethno-political-tensions-and-offline
@JaneEsberg documented artificial manipulated twitter campaigns by both supporters and opponents of El Salvador’s @nayibbukele trying to shape the online narrative about his controversial security policies: https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/central-america/el-salvador/all-presidents-trolls-real-and-fake-twitter-fights-el-salvador
And @rshorsey and @tdkean unpacked the political importance of the Arakan Army’s polished social media public relations efforts in the escalating armed conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state: https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/307-avoidable-war-politics-and-armed-conflict-myanmars-rakhine-state
In the U.S. and around the world, technology companies are increasingly grappling with conflict-prevention challenges previously reserved for governments – both must do more to address technology's deadliest risks.
PS - You can follow @CrisisGroup's ongoing analysis of issues related to Technology & War here: https://www.crisisgroup.org/technology-and-war
