Extremist Attacks by Non-Muslims Not Termed as Terrorism by International Media – Report

It was revealed by global research that international media is resistant to term terrorist attacks by non-Muslims as Terrorism. Usually if a non-Muslim conducts an extremist attack he/she is called mentally ill, while if a Muslim does he is termed a terrorist without a second thought.

The study further revealed that it is three times more likely that violent Islamists are called terrorists in media in comparison to those who are far-right attackers.

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Over 200,000 news articles and broadcast transcripts that were reviewed in the study have come to this conclusion. Even in the recent terrorist attacks on the two mosques in New Zealand on March 15, 2019, this irony was visible. The international media did term the incident as ‘terror attacks’, it was quite soft on the perpetrators.

The research revealed that in 78% of the attacks the media linked Islamist attacks to terrorism while non-Muslim attacks were termed as terrorists only 24% of the time.

Signal AI compiled the study to assist the companies that monitor how media covers news. The company has also reviewed new reports of around 11 different terror attacks that occurred in the last two years.

The company concluded, “Reporting on Islamic extremist attacks is quantifiably different to reporting on far-right attacks.”

Relating to the New Zealand attack, the study called it exceptional case. It said, “The Christchurch shooting is actually exceptional in how willing the media were to label the shooter a terrorist.”