Forum Institutional

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg: social media can help beat ISIS

Could social media help in the fight against terrorist organizations? Image: REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Stéphanie Thomson
Writer, Forum Agenda

Social media is a powerful tool – for both good and bad. Whether you’re promoting a fundraiser for a charity or something more nefarious, it’s an easy way to reach billions of people. And terrorist organizations realize that.

ISIS, in particular, has become notoriously adept at using social media sites for spreading its hateful rhetoric and finding new recruits. “Foreign terrorists now have direct access into the United States like never before,” the FBI’s assistant director said last summer, after a failed terrorist attack that had been planned using social media.

Companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter have tried to keep on top of the threat, closing down any flagged accounts and removing videos. But things move so fast, they can’t possibly be expected to keep up. Wired summed up the problem in an article last year: “The problem lies in the global nature of social media, the reliance upon self-policing by users to identify objectionable content, and the fact that many of those banned simply open a new account and continue posting their hatred.”

But Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg thinks she might have the answer: rather than only focusing on silencing the voices of hate and intolerance, drown them out with messages of hope.

Loading...

By using social media platforms to amplify the voices of those who know the true nature of groups like ISIS, we can flip the narrative on its head. It’s a strategy that has been tried and tested in Germany. Civil society groups there have launched what Sandberg is calling “like attacks”, targeting a neo-Nazi Facebook page and flooding it with messages of love and tolerance.

“Counter-speech to the speech that’s perpetrating hate is by far the best answer,” Sandberg told a panel that included Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Watch the session in full here.

The Annual Meeting is taking place in Davos from 20-23 January, under the theme “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

3:00

This social enterprise uses basketball to get young people back into school

Here's how to mobilize for Sustainable Development Goal 14 ahead of UN Ocean Conference 2025

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum