Investigating the act of deception in online-Islamic Content

Deception in online content is not uncommon. This research focuses on investigating deception in the context of online-Islamic content. Previous studies have shown that some of the online content claiming to be about Islamic values, ethics and ideology is in fact aimed at deceiving people about the truth of Islamic ideologies, values and ethics. Through content analysis, several websites with Islamic content were evaluated to identify criteria of deception. The study was conducted with 24 respondents. Nine main scaled items were generated and tested using correlation analysis and analysis of variance (ANDVA). Descriptive statistics show that the content of Islamic websites may reveal whether the website in question is deceptive or otherwise; background knowledge of Islam aided identification of deceptive websites. The use of a single-informant method and focus on selected Islamic websites are some of the constraints of this study. Future research may consider incorporating a multiple response method, longitudinal design and covering samples across different countries.