Contemporary Securitisation of Islam and Muslims: A Content Analysis of Twitter

Abstract

This study is to address and explore the securitisation of Islam and Muslims on Twitter. It examines whether or not and to what extent securitised images of Islam and Muslims have been produced on Twitter. In addition, the study analyses the dominant securitised themes and their sub-dimensions. The methodology used for this purpose consisted of an empirical and sentiment analysis, analysing three hashtags trending on Twitter. It was found that the portrayal of Muslims and Islam on the Twitter platform was problematic and produced securitised images of Islam and Muslims. Totalitarianism and Sharia law as sub-dimensions of the ideological threat in the context of the securitisation of Islam were dominating, while general Muslims and women as sub-dimensions of securitisation of Muslims were dominating on Twitter. Similarly, hashtags #banislam and #stopislam produced more securitised images than #racism. A few positive and neutral Tweets were found producing positive images of Islam and Muslims on Twitter, showing that these hashtags produced securitised images of Islam and Muslims. Finally, in the securitisation of Islam and Muslims, these hashtags produced more tweets on Islam as an ideological threat category rather than Muslims as an existential threat category.