Islamic political communication online: The websites of the Muslim Brotherhood

Islamic Political Communication Online
An Analysis of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s official English websites

Name: Anita Breuer, anita.breuer@die-gdi.de & Karim Al-Khasaba, karimkhashaba@gmail.com

Prepared for: IPSA-RC22 “Political Communication in Times of Crisis”, Granada 12 – 13 September 2013

Why study the online communication of Islamic
parties and SMOs?
Religious actors played a supporting role in more than 50% of cases of
democratization between 1972 and 2009 (Philpott, Samuel Shah, and
Duffy Toft 2011).
BUT: Muslim countries are democratic underachievers (Fish 2002)
Mainstream academic research has long focused Internet’s role in
improving the organizational capacity of Islamist terrorist groups
Post-Arab-Spring research in political communication has focused on
Internet use of liberal secular actors
Little research on interrelation between ICT & civil, political Islam

© 2013 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

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Online communication of political parties and SMOs
The Internet has supplemented parties‘ traditional
communication channels
Most parties fail to realize the Internet's interactive potential.
Party websites are mainly used for unilateral top-down
communication (Gibson and Ward 2000; Welp and Marzuca
2014)
But the Internet has increased amount of information on minor,
fringe, and extremist parties (Norris 2003, 2005)
SMOs are more likely to benefit from the Internet. Digital
networks facilitate decentralized forms of campaigning typical of
unconventional politics (Rohlinger, Bunnage, and Klein 2012;
Laer and van Aelst 2009)

3

Traditional communication strategies of the
Muslim Brotherhood (1928 – mid 2000s)
Various degrees of state repression under Nasser, and Sadat, and
Mubarak.
repression temporarily eased under Sadat (1976 – 1981) and
Mubarak (1981 – early 90s) → publication of magazines (alDa’wa ,al-Mukhtar, al- I‘tisam, &Liwa’al-islam)
Three central pillars of communication during phases of repression:
(1) Federated structure of organization
(2) Vertical word-of-mouth communication
(3) Proselytizing in mosques


4

The Muslim Brotherhood in the digital era
Renewed state repression under Mubarak starting from the early
1990s partially coincides with the „dawn of MB‘s digital era“


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MB‘s digital communication strategy:
Achievements and problems
Challenge the liberal secular domination of Egypt‘s online political
sphere (e.g. Kefaya, Youth Movement April 6)
Criticism of Independent Young MB bloggers threatens cohesion of
public image

Before the Revolution Egyptian digital sphere was centred around
Western news and social media (Facebook,CNN, BBC)
After the Revolution Egyptian digital sphere has re-arranged
around the periphery of MB websites. Content produced by the MB
has become dominant on Facebook (Howard et. al. 2011)

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Empirical Analysis of the MB‘s official English
Websites
Period of observation: 8 to 13 December 2012 = run up to the
referendum vote on new Constitution
Sites analyzed:
− Ikhwanweb.com official English website of the
Muslim Brotherhood
− Fjponline.com official English website of the
Freedom and Justice Party
Methodology
− Quantitative: Feature Analysis
− Qualitative: Frame Analysis

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Feature Analysis: Political Communication Functions


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Frame Analysis: Cognitive Frameworks for the
Interpretation of Reality

Identity frames: Definition of a collective „we“ in
opposition to „others“ / In-group solidarity
Injustice frames: Motivating collective action by
triggering moral indignation / victimization
Agency frames: Motivation to alter the status quo
through collective action / Empowerment of the
individual


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Identity frames on Ikhwanweb and FJPonline
Who are „we“?
A modern pious organization
Adherent to moral principals and religious laws of
Islam
Supporting pluralist values of democracy
Respecting the rights of women and minorities

Who / what are we not?
Fundamentalist
violent / terrorist / Jihadist
Corrupted by the negative influence of secularization and Westernization


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Injustice frames on Ikhwanweb and FJPonline
What is being done to „us“?
“violence and arson against us”
“systematic campaign of slander and
subversion”
„heinous treachery“
“vicious plot to overthrow the legitimate
President elected by popular will”

….and who‘s doing it?
„opposition thugs“
„paid criminals and mercenaries“
„the media“
„corrupt regime hangovers“
„political forces opposed to the country's stability”

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Agency frames on Ikhwanweb and FJPonline
What can we do?
“Participate Positively in the Constitutional Poll”

Agency frames largely absent over period of observation except
call for conventional collective political action (YES vote in the
referendum)
Limitations of this study: Focus on English language websites
that cater to Western audiences and diaspora communities:
“Ikhwanweb’s basic mission is to bridge the knowledge gap between the MB
and Western intellectuals“

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2 MB Internet platforms = 2 communication strategies

„Egyptians revolt for
the Prophet’s victory in
front of U.S. embassy“


Thank you for your attention!
German Development Institute /
Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
Tulpenfeld 6
D-53113 Bonn
Telephone: +49 (0)228-949 27-0
E-Mail: DIE@die-gdi.de
www.die-gdi.de
www.facebook.com/DIE.Bonn


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Islamic political communication online: The websites of the Muslim Brotherhood

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