“Welcome to the ‘Islamic State’ land” not effective in delivery

Run, do not walk, to ISIS Land.” This is how “Welcome to the ‘Islamic State’ land” begins. The gruesome 69-second video goes on to show some of ISIS’s most graphic footage, depicting everything from militants killing individuals at point-blank range to suicide bombings and beheadings.

Vik Cuthbertson | Daily Trojan

Set against a backdrop of eerie music, the footage of crucifixions and whippings is separated only by the occasional flash of text depicting the “useful new skills” ISIS followers can learn, including “blowing up mosques” and “crucifying and executing Muslims.” The YouTube video ends with a sarcastic message to would-be ISIS recruits: “Travel is inexpensive because you won’t need a return ticket!”

This wasn’t a spoof, though. Rather, it was the product of an official State Department campaign.

The video was produced and published online by the State Department’s “Think Again, Turn Away” initiative, which aims to “expose the facts about terrorists and their propaganda,” according to the initiative’s official Facebook page. The campaign, launched last December, has taken to various platforms on social media to dissuade potential ISIS sympathizers from joining.

Though attempts by the U.S. government to oppose ISIS are to be expected, the video has neither the seriousness nor the appropriate platform to make any substantive impact. From the ominous background music to the inappropriate exclamatory statements, this type of content is expected from the hacktivist group Anonymous or even ISIS itself — but certainly not from a hegemonic power such as the United States.

ISIS’s primary means of communicating its goals and attracting followers has been on social media, such as the recently promoted videos depicting the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Adopting ISIS’s tactics is not an effective means of combatting their message. If anything, it can only serve to give their tactics more legitimacy. In the wake of the Foley and Sotloff videos, many journalists took to social media imploring users not to watch or disseminate ISIS’s videos so as not to give them the satisfaction or press they seek. In crafting satirical videos laden with ISIS’s most graphic content, the State Department has not only given the organization more attention than it deserves, but it has also legitimized it as a key player in the social media content war.

Ultimately, such a video has little chance of actually making a substantive impact. With no major platform beyond YouTube, the video itself has only gained a little more than 625,000 views as of press time. Further, most mainstream media sites, including CNN, won’t broadcast the entirety of the video in their coverage due to its graphic nature.

If someone is intent on joining ISIS, it’s unlikely that a 69-second video of graphic content is going to convince them otherwise. Rather than attempt to persuade vulnerable recruits through a poorly subscribed YouTube channel which boasts fewer than 2,000 subscribers, the U.S. government should be appealing to more authoritative sources who have a better chance of reaching these susceptible demographics.

ISIS is a real threat, and the violence committed in its name should be taken with utmost seriousness, especially by the U.S. government. Such satirical videos that utilize inappropriate attention-grabbing tactics, however, do not achieve that end.

Yasmeen Serhan is a junior majoring in international relations. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.