UK to use tech propaganda against Taleban

Posted on 10 Oct 2008 at 12:10

The UK government is considering a new plan to use mobile and internet communication to combat Taleban propaganda in Afghanistan. According to the BBC, this new media will be used to empower ordinary Afghans who are currently being influenced to the Taleban message.

Films that condemn and criticise the Western World have already been watched on an estimated six million mobile phones. According to the BBC, and are distributed among the half a million internet users in the country.

The UK Foreign Office said that the plan to harness the support of non-governmental organisations to distribute mobile phones to Afghans - so they can make their own video diaries - "has merit".

It envisages having up to 100 short films made by Afghans ready in time for the country's film festival next summer. Government officials say the aim is to deprive the Taleban of its virtual monopoly on propaganda using new media.

According to the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner there is a "growing realisation in Whitehall and Washington that the US-led coalition has been losing the propaganda war in Afghanistan to the Taleban."

"The coalition's reputation was particularly damaged by the recent distribution of mobile phone footage showing the bodies of dozens of Afghan civilians killed in a US-led raid in August," the correspondent said.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota

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