Ahead of Christmas, Daesh media outlets out-of-service

Shaimaa Yehia

Despite being defeated in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist organization of Daesh has renewed its threats over its online platforms and social media websites, even after the killing of its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, saying the caliphate is “lasting and expanding.”

The EU Internet Referral Unit of Europol Europe’s joint police task force, conducted an initiative to identify Daesh-related propaganda online.

The wide crackdown to tackle the online threat of Daesh has discovered more than 26,000 pieces of terrorist content, leading to the arrest of a suspected member responsible for distributing it.

Daesh is expected to revive its lone wolves and sleeper cells to plan out terrorist operations during Christmas as it used to rely on encrypted communication methods.

Moreover, Europol has in recent months been working with some the largest online platforms, including with Google, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram, to counter the spread of Daesh propaganda operations.

In the case of Telegram, the bulk of the extremist material that was removed from the internet was found on the server of the cloud-based instant messaging and voice over IP service.

Daesh has suffered major defeats since 2018 when its self-declared capital Raqqa, in eastern Syria, was recaptured by US-backed Kurdish forces in October 2017.

In April 2018, law enforcement agencies of the E.U., Canada and the United States seized servers and data from Daesh, forcing it to rely heavily on online social media and messaging services.

Since 2015, extremist groups in Syria have recruited more than 20 thousand elements to serve them, and the reason they joined Daesh was the advertising and social media activities, which allowed the organization to expand its scope from a conflict limited to a specific category in Syria and Iraq to a global attraction.

On March 23, 2019, the United States designated Daesh-related media outlets as terrorist. A Vice report on Dec. 13th noted that experts who track Daesh’s activities online have found that supporters of the terror group are currently experimenting with blockchain-based messaging app, BCM. On the subject, a BCM spokesperson told Cointelegraph:

BCM, which stands for “Because Communication Matters,” boasts user anonymity, end-to-end encrypted messages and consistent privacy protection. According to its website, BCM is different from both Telegram and Whatsapp in a number of ways.

Dar al-Iftaa’s Observatory of Takfiri Fatwas and Extremist Views in a statement said Daesh launched the BCM app to promote its ideology.

The organization established 10 channels and pages through the app since last week, some of which include more than 100 followers according to media reports. The application allows collecting funds through bitcoin.