The world has grown uneasy following the rise of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that has gobbled up territory in Iraq and Syria over the last two years. With the advent of social media, ISIS has been able to recruit individuals from outside its borders to travel to Iraq and Syria and fight on its behalf. A very small number of our own Canadian men and women—often having been ostracized by their peers—have become radicalized and left to fight for ISIS as well.
This crisis and the escalating refugee situation—in which Canada has been doing its part—are incredibly worrying. However, perhaps more worrying are the videos ISIS releases, usually taped executions of westerners, general dissenters, and other captives. When ISIS releases a video, news outlets naturally report on it. Many even go the next step and show an excerpt from the clip on their programs. It is news after all, so it should be normal to report on such things considering it is a current global issue, right? Wrong.
ISIS attacks in the Middle East and Europe—as well as ISIS-inspired imitators in North America—have contributed to international unease. In extreme cases, this unease has led to xenophobic attacks, both verbal and physical, on Muslims and sadly, Syrian refugees who flee the very same terrorism the world is afraid of.
By broadcasting every video ISIS records and releases, the media is fueling the fire. ISIS produces these videos for everybody to see. They want us to be fearful. They want us to see their power. While it is natural for these occurrences to be reported on, broadcasting every single ISIS video is an ethical grey area and a boon to ISIS’ fear campaign.
Even the world’s worst murderers are not often videotaped when they are killed. Public executions have been outlawed in the West for decades now. So why then does western media show a video of an enemy it is at war with executing somebody’s son or daughter in front of millions of viewers? This is the question we have to ask ourselves.
In a dangerous time, Canadians must hold onto their sanity and their pride in Canada’s multicultural fabric. The moment we lose that, we allow extremist groups such as ISIS to manipulate our minds, and to scare us, helping them reach the ultimate goal of terrorism. Let’s turn the tables on fear.
