MBRSC Dean Ali Jaber Calls on Media to Fight Extremism
Ali Jaber, Dean of the MBRSC, and MBC Group TV Director, called on media institutions to fight extremist content in a session titled “What Type of Media Do We Want?” at the 18th edition of the Arab Media Forum last week.
Dean Jaber highlighted the effects of algorithms and social media networking sites on terrorism. He explained that Facebook and Google may have enabled people to kill thousands of people in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine and Lebanon by giving users a platform where they can learn how to commit violent acts of terrorism.
“At first, Facebook and Google were like a breath of fresh air that came into the region,” he said. “They made people move into the street to change dictatorial and repressive regimes, allowing them to make changes they had not dreamed of before. However, the founders of those networking sites and search engines promised us dreams, and gave us nightmares.”
Dean Jaber announced that MBC will be a leader in the production of anti-extremism content, in partnership with the Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA), a regulatory and administrative body that leads the development of innovative industries to establish Dubai as a worldwide hub for knowledge-based businesses.
“We are aware of the impact of MBC on the mass media and the public,” Dean Jaber said. “We can destroy the world with news, shake Beirut with a caricature, and create demonstrations in Iraq with a song, so we decided to take the strategic decision of using an essential part of our budget to produce content against extremism.”
