Online Muslim Forums Foster Tolerance And Fuel Vitriol
June 11, 2013
Communications Professor Sahar Khamis comments in a Religion News Service article about how she wants Muslims to use the Internet in a way that promotes civil discourse.
By Corrie Mitchell, Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) Amid calls to get more Muslims using the Internet, experts who have studied Muslims online caution that the virtual Islamic community can be a “double-edged sword.”
While the proliferation of Muslim websites provides a platform for a multitude of voices, Sahar Khamis, communication professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, said there is a shortage in the amount of rational, critical deliberation and debate taking place online.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life recently released a report suggesting that Muslims who use the Internet tend to have a more favorable view of Western movies, music and television than their offline counterparts.
Though Khamis said she’d like to see more Muslims online — a median of 18 percent of Muslims worldwide regularly use the Internet, according to Pew — she wants it to be in a way that promotes civil discourse. As it stands, that is generally not the case.
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