Spreading Ideology Via Social Media
Royal Australian Navy sailors sacked over racist posts
Everything that is written and posted on social media is there forever, and no matter how many times some people are told, they still never learn. This is the case for several members of the Royal Australian Navy, after they were dismissed for ‘inappropriate’ use of social media.
.jpg "Royal Australian Navy Facebook racist posts")
Source: huffingtonpost.com
The Navy launched an internal investigation back in January due to fears that some sailors engaged in Operation Sovereign Borders had been posting anti-Islamic content on social networking sites. The reports later identified that at least 20 of them were members of the Australian Defence League, who are an anti-Islamic extremist group. They are affiliated with the English Defence League, whose ‘protests’ often end in violence and disruption, despite their claims of innocence and peace.
One senseless Navy member who was under investigation, and claimed be a member of the ADL, stated on Facebook that he was “about to head out today to deal with these f***s.” If this member thought he could possibly get away with posting such content then, the revelations are much more concerning than first thought.
Source: The Economic Times
Despite the above, Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, said that no serving member of the Navy was found to be a member of the Australian Defence League, but a number of personnel were found to have been making anti-Islamic comments online. In addition to this, he also stated that some had affiliations with different social media groups that are not consistent with the Navy Values.
The Australian Navy have obviously dealt with the matter, and there are strict guidelines about social media in any military format now, but the fact that there are extremist members in the forces in the first place is a very worrying sign. The Australian Defence League’s affiliated friends, the English Defence League are well documented all over the world, and this raises concerns whether there are members of this group in the British military.
.jpg "Royal Australian Navy Facebook racist posts")
Source: The Syndey Morning Herald
It is a concern from an educational and ideological viewpoint as these extremist groups always crop up when economic hardship is upon a nation. They have created a new far right movement that has spread online, and utilises the power of social media to spread hate, and the effect has been very strong indeed. It is an eye opening fact that the hate has spread to the people who are meant to be helping the folks that they protest against.
Despite psychological research into the ‘new far right’ movements that stress such views are often expressed due to frustrations with society amongst angry young males, the findings that the Australian Navy have uncovered prove that the ideology is spreading beyond the under-developed areas of a country. The more viable reason for the growing far right influence on the world is media portrayal of Islamic culture. Since the terrorist attacks on America and the UK, there has been a strong media backlash towards Islam, and the media tends to generalise all Muslim people, and again this creates a culture of bitterness and hate.
It hits home when you see Naval recruits endorsing the views of far right ideology, and the Australian Navy have reacted accordingly to the findings, but here lies a deeper issue, one that cuts into the heart of community and tranquillity amongst differing cultures. With the economy progressing as it is, we may see some of the anti-Islamic groups die, as the paranoia will simmer. Upon hard times, human beings always need a scapegoat and a medium to vent anger, and unfortunately in today’s world of multi-cultural diversity it is religion that causes such conflict.
Alex is an English Literature and Sociology undergraduate whose love for written word has led him to write about some obscure topics in his time. Currently a content writer at Social Media Frontiers, be sure to follow him @AlexSatSMF.
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Spreading Ideology Via Social Media
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Monday, April 14, 2014
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Reviewed by Unknown
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Monday, April 14, 2014
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