Être visible sur et par internet : le cas de l'État islamique

This thesis focuses on the visibility of extremist groups on the internet. While several studies have focused on describing the different uses of digital technologies by radical groups and the way the internet would operate as a catalyst for radicalization, few studies have sought to analyze the constitutive relationship between the technical apparatus and the militant extremist. The objective of the thesis is to renew the visibility model of groups classified as extremists, taking into account the mutual reconfigurations between digital platforms and the militant groups.   At a theoretical level, our study is situated at the intersection of actor-network theory (ANT), software studies and Lucy Suchman’s work (2007) on the dynamic reconfiguration of mutual and permanent relationships between humans and machines. Based on the case study of the Islamic State, this analysis, lasting one and a half years, was anchored in data from an ethnographic research field. The survey consists of non-participant observation of several digital platforms exploited by the jihadist group, online archiving and analysis of online traces, as well as a documentary corpus.  Our results contribute to better understanding how groups qualified as extremist develop their visibility on digital platforms, by emphasizing that it is relational, technical and conflictual. First of all, our study demonstrates the evolution to a more complex development of the resources used to obtain visibility. The online visibility of the Islamic state requires a vast network of actors, such as media specialists, activists, cybersecurity specialists and botnets. For this reason, offline and online, decentralized and centralized processes are combined. The analysis of their daily practices shows that the work of Islamic state militants to obtain visibility strive at amplification and abundance of their information flow. Their goal is to inundate social media platforms with their contents, conducting a “media war”. Furthermore, the results obtained suggest that developing visibility is complex due to a series of constraints and enemy forces that thwart the Islamic State project, such as moderation of contents as an example. At the same time, our study shows that the presence of this type of users has resulted in the redesign of the regulation of these technologies, making them more restrictive. Finally, the results reveal that the Islamic state militants are actively working to put in place resistance tactics in order to limit the negative effects of that moderation.  In a second step, the thesis focuses on the forms of visibility evolving from this technical mediation between activists and digital platforms. We suggest the concept of technical visibility to highlight the online visibility of political opinions. This type of visibility is based on the deployments of a technical rationality. Therein the creation of visibility becomes a specialized activity using the technical as well as mechanized dimensions of digital technologies, each with their own mode of normativity. If technical visibility gives users the possibility to develop their visibility, the thesis expresses certain reservations as to the real value of this “ faire-voir ”. It shows that this type of technical visibility, due to its characteristic quest for efficiency and abundance of information, generalizes bulk, aggressive, or deceptive activity. This results in new forms of domination and asymmetry. We therefore argue that it could jeopardize democracy.

Keyphrases: internet, reconfiguration, visibility, digital platforms, activism, extremism, Islamic State, technical