Visual propaganda war on social media during conflicts: A case study on the Syrian regime's military propaganda

The symbiotic relationship between politics and propaganda has gained a new dimension as a result of internet-based technologies. The emergence of social media, which is considered as one of the most prominent technological advances of the 21st century, has profoundly transformed the methods of disseminating propaganda messages over the last two decades. Many state and non-state actors in modern world leverage social media platforms to spread visual propaganda particularly during times of war and conflict. In this study, we analyzed photographs posted on the official Facebook page of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime during civil war to understand how visuals were used to spread military propaganda. For this purpose, we implemented the semiotic approach of Roland Barthes in order to build the meaning through denotation and connotation theory.