ISIS media blackout just before Christmas

Shaimaa Yahya

Under the slogan of “remaining and expanding,” ISIS continued to broadcast its propaganda messages even after its defeat in Syria and Iraq, but the organization received a strong blow with the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October 2019, followed by a new, digital blow that targeted its social media websites and platforms on the internet.

Europol said that during the month of October and November, thousands of video recordings and social media accounts that promote the ISIS ideology were removed, which led to a quieting of the organization’s voices that threaten public security in European countries during Christmas.

In conjunction with Christmas, which ISIS uses for the gathered crowds celebrating, European countries in particular will be a target for ISIS to carry out its terrorist operations in order to revive its lone wolves despite the tightening security measures, and ISIS could use its sleeper cells to carry out more attacks.

Europol added that it responded to ISIS’s propaganda operations with the help of nine of the largest internet platforms, including Google, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram.

To carry out its terrorist operations, ISIS had largely depended on exchanging information between members through encrypted communication tools and “closed rooms” on Telegram.

ISIS media decline

According to Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta Observatory on September 14, the main ISIS platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Telegram have attracted few terrorist operatives. As a result, ISIS has focused on corporate messaging and online games. It has also tried to launch fixed websites on Tumblr and WordPress, but to no avail.

Europol issued a study on ISIS media platforms during the year 2018, confirming that there has been a noticeable decline in the number of publications broadcast by the organization as well as a decline in quality of videos broadcast by the organization. After a long period of high-quality production, ISIS has now resorted to using recycled material previously published on its media platforms.

Since 2015, extremist groups in Syria have recruited more than 20,000 elements to serve them. ISIS’s use of advertising and social media had allowed the organization to expand its scope from a limited conflict in Syria and Iraq to gaining global attraction.

International coalition

The international coalition against ISIS was formed in September 2014. The coalition is committed to weakening ISIS, disrupting its ability to work over the internet, and defeating it. The organization’s use of digital media is well documented, but the coalition seeks to make sure that the organization’s territorial defeat is followed by its defeat on the ideological level. In October 2017, there was 85% less ISIS propaganda than in August 2015.

ISIS platforms

Since its establishment, ISIS has relied on the internet to spread its news and promote its ideas on social networks.

ISIS’s media outlets were designated terrorist organizations by the United States on March 23, 2019, as they supported the organization in publishing terrorist messages and recruiting operatives.

On April 11, 2019, the Security Media Cell in Iraq announced that the headquarters of the ISIS newspaper was destroyed in a cave in Iraq’s Hamrin Mountains, which included tools for preparing the newspaper, such as printers and computers.