This research shows the role of social media as a means of disseminating and consuming radical ideologies and narratives in the Kyrgyz Republic. The term “social media” refers not only to the Internet, but also to mobile phone technologies where various mobile applications (or messengers) are actively used to exchange content and disseminate information.
The research employs a qualitative approach and uses the following methods:
a) analysis of the most popular social media among the local youth, kinds and types of information received and disseminated through these channels;
b) research of the type and the language of communication in the target youth environment;
c) identification of popular messages and meanings circulated through these channels and instilled in the minds of the youth, which leads to radicalization;
d) one hundred and eight structured interviews with active users and consumers of information from social media in eight districts of Kyrgyzstan.
Respondents in the target areas were selected by random sampling, with consideration given to their age category from about 16 to 32 years. The interviews were conducted by a group of 6 field researchers using a non-formalized method. Their results were evaluated using 15 indicators. These interviews serve as a basis for analyzing the information which users consume; its content, format, the degree of trust in it and subsequent communication channels.
The data obtained based on these interviews has helped to extract clear descriptions of meanings, messages, and images that are attractive to young people and can contribute to their radicalization. The term “radicalization” in this research denotes ideological and behavioral tendencies characterized by a shift towards intolerance of the current way of life and the state structure and by various levels of predisposition to violence through communications and joining militant extremist and terrorist groups.
