Social media is a tool for misinformation and radicalization

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Vienna were canceled because of a planned ISIS terror attack earlier this month. The suspects included three teenagers aged 17, 18, and 19 who had recently pledged allegiance to ISIS after being radicalized online.

The age of these teenagers highlights the growing dangers of social media and misinformation that algorithms are pushing on social justice issues, including the Israel-Hamas war.

Terrorism and TikTok

In 2023, Osama bin Ladin’s 2002 “Letter to America” went viral on TikTok, with users stitching themselves crying, agreeing, and promoting the words and ideas of the Al-Quida terrorist, with many lamenting his death. Among the ideas pushed in the letter, users echoed justifications for 9/11 and condemned U.S. and Western imperialism.

TikTok users pushed neo-Marxist ideas of condemning and divesting from the West, making moral arguments for the justification of 9/11 in a similar way to justifications for the 10/7 massacres.

Promulgation of misinformation leads to radicalization

Consuming news and history on social media is potentially dangerous because it facilitates the spread of information from uneducated and unqualified armchair experts. Studies show that up to 15% of people aged 18–24 regularly get their news from TikTok.

Why Islamism hates Western feminism

The planned attack on the Eras Tour is about so much more than terrorism for the sake of terrorism. The size of Taylor Swift’s concerts was a strategic choice. But it is no surprise that Taylor Swift and her fans are targeted by Islamists – because she is emblematic of everything Islamism hates about Western feminism.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the highest-growing tour of all time, making her a billionaire. Her songs champion LGBTQ+ rights and female liberation… everything Islamism culturally rejects.

The Clash of Civilizations

The planned attack at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tours demonstrates what is coming for the West if society and culture continue to capitulate to Islamists, as mainstream culture has done since Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

Empowering and justifying radical ideologies and violence against the Jews only undermines Western security. Misinformation, radical ideologies, and revisionist history prominent on social media are prominent tools to these ends.

First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.

Islamism is coming for the West

The planned attack is another example of the clash between the West and Islamic civilizational identities. Islamism has a vastly different vision for women in society, and the ideology seeks to see that vision globally. Last week, an Iranian woman, Arezoo Bardi, was left a paraplegic after being shot for violating Iran’s mandatory hijab laws.

Islamism seeks to see these radical ideals enforced in the West. Freedom and self-expression are the antithesis of this ideology.

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