“Tweeps” Brings Together Intellectual, Political and Religious Leaders to Encourage Co-existence and Counter Extremism

The Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz ‘Misk’ Foundation launched the fifth session of Tweeps on Sunday, May 21, 2017,in Riyadh to discuss the topic of “Countering Extremism and Terrorism”.

The Forum discussed seven main topics, namely the constant cooperation to counter terrorism, countering extremism and hatred through social media networks, sports, andsocial media networks, building new digital alliances against extremism, Islam and its impact on civilizations and its presence on social media, and the fight against terrorism in social media networks.

The Forum aimed to encourage young people to cooperate with governments and other responsible organizations as they tackle those who incite terrorism and extremism online, to increase young people’s awareness of their own responsibility while online and the positive impact they can have as they use social media platforms, to promote impactful discussions on Twitter and the rejection of extremism, to encourage young men and women to participate and achieve a positive influence, and to promote the concept of effective communication between governments and the public through Twitter and other social media platforms.

The Forum welcomed many remarkable participants, including the Imam of the Quba Mosque of Medina, Saleh al-Moghamsy, President of Muslim Elders Council, Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Director of The Global Strategy Network, Richard Barrett, Twitter Head of Public Policy and Government Relations – MENA Region, George Salama, Facebook’s vice-president of public policy for Asia-Pacific, Simon Milner, Former Saudi footballer, Majed Abdullah, Technical Manager of Al-Shabab FC, Sami Al-Jaber, and the Portuguese footballer, Luís Figo.

Tweeps Forum tackled the cultural, intellectual, legal, and security challenges encountered by the international society to fight extremism using social media platforms.The Forum also encouraged the responsible use of social media platforms and highlighted the contribution of female social media users and influencers in promoting peace and tolerance through anti-extremism content.