The Cyber Quran as a Semiotic Shield: Mediatization of Obedience and Crisis Communication in Iran’s State Discourse on X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66277/jqms.1.1.236Keywords:
Cyber Qur'an, Encoding/Decoding, Defensive Hermeneutics, Platform X, Semiotic ShieldAbstract
This study explores the tension between the sacred religious doctrine and its digital mediatization, focusing on how Quranic verses are adapted to social media algorithmic logic during geopolitical crises. Through qualitative content analysis, it examines how the Iranian cyber regime transformed the X platform into a crisis communication infrastructure using defensive-integrative cyber hermeneutics. By decontextualizing sacred texts, the state constructs a semiotic shield that externally regulates mass emotions amid military pressure and internally enforces loyalty standardization during the 2026 power succession. Employing Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding framework, the study analyses official @IRIMFA tweets and public comment threads. Although platform interactivity generates asymmetric resistance through negotiated and oppositional readings, these critical voices do not dismantle state power. Instead, they compel authorities to adopt a kinetic, adaptive, and circular soft-war strategy, revealing a complex dynamic of contested yet resilient discursive hegemony.References
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