American Muslims tackle terrorism with Internet, teens' best tool

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Thursday 28 Jan 2016 - 11:20 Makkah mean time-18-4-1437 Image from NPR Evansville City, USA (IINA) - As ISIS uses social media and the Internet to recruit followers, a group of American Muslim millennials are also using the same tools to clear up misconceptions, National Public Radio (NPR) news reported. Tired of being called a terrorist, Ranny Badreddine, a youth from Evansville, Indiana in USA, joined other young teens to create World Changers, an initiative that uses the cyberspace to combat misconceptions about Islam. "Kids have to be worried about...going outside and being scared that someone is going to beat them up because they're Muslim," Badreddine says. "As a 13-year-old kid, I don't want to live my life being scared of Americans trying to hurt me because of what I am and my religion." Many younger American Muslims say their parents and grandparents have long been reluctant to speak out and risk drawing attention to themselves. But Badreddine and his peers want to take a different approach. They want to use technology to push back against what they see as false portrayals of Islam. The group is a branch organization of Reclamation Studios, another media initiative that aims to counter ISIS State group's propaganda online. World Changers currently works with Reclamation Studios to spread their message and answer questions about Islam online. They also work with other nonprofits to organize public forums. Romaze Akhram, one of the members, says this battle for the hearts and minds of Americans is not just about religion. For him, it is far more personal. "The problem is, when they talk about terrorism, people aren't necessarily seeing ISIS and Al-Qaida. They're seeing me," Akhram says. “And they're seeing the kids that are with us today, you know, and we're working towards positive things but they're going to see us as terrorists." Muslim activist Humera Khan says religion is not the only or even the main reason driving the atrocities around the world. "And so if we want to deal with the issue of ISIS, we must deal with the political reality as well," she says. "I don't think what ISIS is doing is at all Islam. They use some of the language but their objectives are extremely political." SM/IINA