Fellows in the Press: Shafi Md Mostofa’s Op-ed in the Diplomat on Bangladesh’s Cyber Radicalization Crisis

In his latest piece for Asia-Pacific current affairs magazine The Diplomat, our Global Forum Fellow Shafi Md Mostofa writes about extremist groups in Bangladesh increasingly using online platforms to spread violent ideologies.

“<Cyber radicalization> has been a major concern in Bangladesh’s efforts to counter violent extremism,” Shafi M Mostofa writes in the article, citing various examples of extremist groups using social media networks, messaging apps and discussion boards to spread their ideologies. He refers to a study that found that 82% of young Bangladeshi militants were radicalized through various social networking sites.

To counter the problem, the article calls for a number of comprehensive steps, including, among other things, strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure, collaborating with social media companies to remove extremist content, promoting digital literacy or regulating cryptocurrencies.

Read the article here.

In November, the Diplomat ran a piece by Shafi Md Mostofa on why ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina had failed to replicate China’s success.