Insights from the Terrorism and Social Media Conference 2024
In late June, we were asked to attend the 2024 Terrorism and Social Media Conference in Swansea, Wales.
The conference brought together a range of researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners from different countries and disciplinary backgrounds. Participants and speakers approached the vast and pressing issues facing this sphere through keynote presentations and a variety of breakout sessions.
Our insights report aims to summarise the discussions that Anjum Rahman attended and participated in so that the ideas can reach a wider audience.
Anjum’s contribution was focused on community partnerships with academics and researchers: why these were important, the extractive nature of research and the harm that has been caused by research in the past, and the strength that can be gained from communities and researchers working together using models that share power and agency.
What does this have to do with belonging in Aotearoa, New Zealand?
Because social media and digital technologies are now enmeshed within many people’s daily lives, they can strongly affect the sense of belonging and inclusion in a country or place. Despite being a small country far from Wales where this conference was held, we often see local examples of how these technologies produce discrimination, violence, and occasionally the safety of a community’s lives.
At Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono, we believe that part of our goal of strengthening belonging and inclusion in the country requires mitigating the drivers of online harm and educating the people of Aotearoa on how these spaces work so that they can feel a greater sense of safety and belonging in their communities.
Our commitment work can be seen through our engagement with bodies such as The Christchurch Call and The Department of Minister and Cabinet, our development of the Coalition for Better Digital Policy, and our educational programs on Belonging Online.
