Cultivation of Religious Extremism through Facebook: The Case of Pakistan

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The study aims to examine the role of Facebook in cultivating religious extremism among its users in Pakistan. A major portion of existing literature presents social media, specifically Facebook as a tool used by extremists and terrorist groups in igniting and spreading extremist views around the world, however little research has been done to evaluate the effects of religious content on the Facebook on its users in Pakistan. A quantitative research design has been applied to answer a multidimensional range of questions covering various effects of religious content on Facebook users and the factors involved in the usage of Facebook for religious extremism. A comprehensive nationwide survey from systematically selected 1250 Facebook users from four (04) provincial and one (1) federal capitals of Pakistan under the broader theoretical foundations of Cultivation Theory has been conducted to study the desired effects. The findings of the study showed a higher probability of religious extremism including hate speech, sectarianism, and radicalization with the higher usage of Facebook among Pakistani users.