The CrISIS of Ludic Terrorism: Videogaming Exploited as a Means of Islamists’ Radicalization, Recruitment and Propaganda

Abstract

Abstract “Ludic terrorism” is a game-mediated phenomenon whereby videogaming, i.e., designing, modifying, playing and exploiting gaming-adjacent platforms, is exploited at the service of Islamist terrorist and white supremacist causes. In this PhD dissertation, I examine the scope of ludic terrorism in the available gaming ecosystem, what has driven extremists to use these outlets, what gaming features have been utilized, for what purposes and how. I specifically look at how the exploitation of videogaming by terrorists has been tailored toward propagating their causes and radicalizing vulnerable individuals. I conduct this interdisciplinary game study, incorporating the psychology of behavior, geopolitical examination of the contexts (Islamic, ethnic clashes and the US’s invasion of the Middle East) in discourse analysis, and semiotics of the embedded ideological and gamic elements. I begin by exploring why individuals need to be members of something bigger than themselves, what renders them vulnerable to persuasion and how their need for meaning-making in life can be satisfied by joining communities, organizations and hubs. Scanning the online ecosystem of gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms, I proceed to study how digital gaming outlets have been used as “hotbeds of radicalization” for white supremacists and what results one can draw regarding potential radicalization, propaganda and recruitment. Next, I study Salil-Al-Sawarim (SaS), a modified version of GTA V by ISIS or its sympathizers. Building on Ian Bogost’s concept of “procedural rhetoric” to examine the rules and mechanics of the game, I observe how these features may persuasively facilitate radicalization or propaganda. Moreover, to unveil the embedded messages of propaganda, I review in-game elements such as words, cutscenes, colours, etymological undertones, the Quranic verses involved and other relevant items. This semiotic study is also a discursive reading of Islamist ideology along with the aftermath of the US invasion of the Middle East and its “War on Terror” discourse being retaliated by ISIS. I conclude that, although videogames are effective cultural artifacts for communication and message conveyance, their functionality in recruiting for ideological extremist groups is either not data-driven or should be approached as a more complex phenomenon. Keywords: videogaming, Islamists, white supremacy, radicalization, propaganda, ISIS