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Zane Ziebell
Pabich
English 302
April 26th, 2015

The Islamic State and Social Media

Five-Star Jihad

The Islamic State, or ISIS, has harnessed the technological boom of the 21st

century unlike any other terrorist organization to date. With glossy, sleek looking
magazines and sharp, crystal clear high definition recruitment and propaganda videos, ISIS
has gained power and influence throughout the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Holding a
fundamentalist view of Islam, and a strict adherence to its doctrines, ISIS is gaining
support and momentum faster than security platforms and government organizations can
keep up. Efforts have been made to counter the persisting ISIS threat, but the brutal
terrorist organization seems to grow more resilient by the hour. How exactly has ISIS
achieved such status and glory, all while being able to strike fear directly into the hearts of
millions of people? How have they used social media platforms for recruitment and further
growth as a terrorist organization? These obvious questions are ones that most
government authorities and state officials are still trying to figure out.

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The terrorist movement has seemingly taken off since the start of the 21st century.

It has become one of the most debated and controversial issues of our time, as the threat
of violence and terror has caused widespread suffering and massive loss of life. As the
world plunges into a conflict with extremism and violence, it also ascends into a
technological battle, where ISIS has embraced the rise of modern, sophisticated methods
of communication. In doing so, the jihadi group has become a skilled manipulator of social
media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, using these free online services to
advance their extremist agenda. The terrorist world has only recently come online,
previously using internet chat forums and rudimentary means of instant messaging. The
leap to social media outlets has only recently been made by ISIS, but the group has
adapted extremely well, and is benefitting mightily from it.

The Twitter Phenomenon

Twitter has been, and continues to be, the most effective tool for ISIS in recruiting

foreigners and disaffected people to their cause of establishing a new caliphate and
restoring the golden age of Islam. Twitter is also the most widely used social media
platform by all members of ISIS, as its ease of access via smartphone is convenient for the
jihadi fighter engaged on the battlefield. Exploiting Twitters free service, ISIS is sending out
propaganda and jihadist messages to draw in people vulnerable to radicalization. A recent
study, The ISIS Twitter Census, found that 46,000 Twitter accounts have so far been
known to be used by direct ISIS members and supporters since the militant group stole its

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way on to the international stage in the summer of 2014 (Morgan 9). With the use of
hashtags such as #ISIS, #SYRIA, and #BREAKING, jihadi influence is reaching farther than
it ever has before, and in a shorter amount of time. This small army of Tweeters has been
able to send out images of violence and spread messages of jihad to attract potential
overseas recruits, as well as inspire individual acts of terror in random parts of the world.

No number can be put on the actual amount of ISIS supporters on Twitter, as users

use deceptive tactics to elude detection, avoid suspension, and maneuver around Twitter
policy. Twitter has already blocked over 1,000 accounts that are suspected of supporting
ISIS (Adamczyk 1). Although the effort has been made to crack down on these accounts,
users are storing information on back up accounts, making it very difficult for Twitter policy
enforcers to dam the river of information pouring out of the Middle East. Estimates place
ISIS supporting accounts upwards of 70,000 (Morgan 9). But in reality the number could
be much higher, as ISIS continues to earn recruits and support from its online campaigns.

The primary language of communication throughout these accounts is Arabic, as

one in five accounts of the known 46,000 have it listed as their chosen language (Morgan
3). Although the medium of communication is primarily Arabic, hashtags are often written
in English, in order to influence English speaking countries where ISIS wants to send its
message of terror. Few ISIS account holders identify their location when they tweet, but
the ones that do are commonly found having tweeted from Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia,
where extremism and ISIS movement is most common (Morgan 12). Users have also

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listed their location as, Islamic State, referencing the territory already under ISIS control.
With a significantly large number of these accounts being created in 2014, the use of
Twitter by the Islamic State is primarily new. Those interested in joining ISIS need not look
far on Twitter to reach someone in the group. An entry of Islamic State, in the search bar
and a few clicks will lead the user to thousands of ISIS supporter accounts, where direct
messages can be exchanged and a point of contact can be easily established. These
online relationships are what fuel ISIS recruitment and foster the beginnings of online
radicalization.

Propaganda

Propaganda and radicalization also takes another form for ISIS. The group regularly

issues a propaganda magazine entitled, Dabiq. Dabiq itself is a location in Syria, where
according to Islamic mythology, a final apocalyptic battle is going to take place (The
Islamic States Magazine 1). Seeking to entice and inspire, Dabiq is produced by Al Hayat
Media Center, an organization made up of primarily western tech savvy foreign recruits. At
the time of writing, Dabiq is averaging around 50 pages of information per issue, but that
number is likely to grow substantially as the group continues to make territorial gains
despite US and coalition efforts to stop them (The Islamic States Magazine 2). This
image laden, glossy, professional looking magazine is printed in multiple languages
including English. Exaggerating victories on the battlefield and using crafty and deceptive
language to paint a picture of the restoration of the Islamic golden age where the caliphate

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superseded all borders and united Muslims, the editors of Dabiq have thus far produced 8
issues (The Islamic States Magazine" 1). With billions of dollars acquired from oil money
and extortion, the group is able to put together this periodical and send it out to the world.
Promoting jihad, unity, holy war, and truth-seeking, the magazine contains photo reports,
current events, and informative articles that keep the reader up to date on the Islamic
State. The magazine, while not a new form of social media, has been another effective
weapon in radicalizing people from around the world.

Alongside Dabiq, ISIS is also carrying out on-the-ground propaganda efforts to

supplement their editorial efforts. In ISIS held territory in Iraq, mass repentance
gatherings are held where policemen, soldiers, and militia pledge to stop working with the
Iraqi government (Bora 4). ISIS has also constructed massive billboards on highway
bridges advertising their Twitter accounts to civilians with the hashtag #IS (Twitter research
April 2015). With their inventive approach to advertisement, foreigners are flocking by the
thousands every month to take part in the ISIS struggle.

Foreign Fighters

Foreign fighters have been a hot commodity for bolstering the physical membership

of ISIS. The group looks not only for blood thirsty jihadis, but it expresses the need for
doctors, engineers, and volunteers to help with infrastructure and governance in order to
fulfill positions to maintain the territory it controls. The use of e-Books, and online

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publications, has been critical to helping foreign fighters make the hijra, or journey, to ISIS
controlled territory from around the world. The Islamic State has had an astonishing influx
of over 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 40 countries. Approximately 3,400 of these
fighters are believed to be Westerners (Masi 1), and 150 are thought to have travelled from
inside the United State of America and into Iraq and Syria (Bora 1). Easily radicalized,
these foreigners speak a plethora of languages ranging from German and Urdu, to French
and English. With the language skills brought in from abroad, ISIS is able to produce its eBooks in multiple languages, raising its recruitment capability. ISIS has also produced over
300 fighters form China, hundreds more from Chechnya, as well as a multitude of Muslims
from Australia (Ehrenfeld 3).

One e-Book entitled The Islamic State 2015, another publication of the Al Hayat

Media Center, has specific step by step instructions on how to cross the Turkish-Syrian
border to get into ISIS held areas (Hjra-2015 32). The pages go in depth, providing
detailed insight on what to pack, who to look out for, and where to go on the risky journey.
Throughout the e-Book are Twitter usernames, just another example of how easy it is to
directly contact members of ISIS. It is difficult to pin point the amount of people who have
travelled to ISIS controlled regions to fight for the group, but when they do, experts claim
they usually travel in groups, and for a multitude of reasons. They want to find something
meaningful for their life. Some are thrill-seeking, some are seeking redemption (Stern 82).
The use of e-Books in recruiting foreign fighters has proved dangerously effective for the
militant group.

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The Dark Web

A possible reason why it has been so hard for government agencies to crack down

on the widespread ISIS propaganda that plagues the internet is that agencies have no idea
where the source of the information is. The jihadi cyber soldiers are using an internet
browsing program called Tor, which conceals the users identity over the internet.
Originally a product of the military, this surveillance deterring software enables ISIS to cloak
its online data and hide it from authorities. Unlike the standard internet that you use
everyday, the Dark Web program Tor masks your online identity, making the user
anonymous, so nothing can be traced to a mappable location. The impact of Tor has
created new problems and serious concerns over internet governance and cyber security
(Tucker 1).

Tor is where the Black Market exists, and ISIS is using this virtual world to not only

promote and recruit, but to make money as well. ISIS has been known to sell women over
Tor, as well as solicit millions from drug trafficking operations. Some of the websites ISIS
uploads media and videos to are only accessible via Tor on the Dark Web. A large portion
of ISIS digital content is thought to be stored on the Dark Web, a place not familiar to
many government agencies as its recent surge has many officials puzzled (Tucker 1). As
long as Tor continues to remain in existence, creating a viable, legal solution to countering
the online threat of ISIS will prove to be very difficult if not impossible.

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Countering the online ISIS Threat

Youtube and Twitter have taken steps to remove propaganda from their platforms

by shutting down accounts and blocking users. Yet the ISIS sympathizers are not
discouraged. Just as accounts are suspended and blocked, new ones pop up in their
place in effect creating a game of Whack-a-mole online (Stern 136). As the group
spreads to other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, JustPasteIt,
Pinterest, ask.Fm, and Scribd, the problem with Tor and the dark web continues to factor
into the equation as well (Masi 2). The Islamic State has even produced its own social
media outlet called the Caliphate Book, which is similar to Facebook.

What is to be done to counter the seemingly endless array of platforms and outlets

being used by ISIS and pro-ISIS sympathizers on the internet? One solution calls for the
simple act of doing nothing. It is believed that with adequate time the ISIS craze that has
swept into our everyday lives will burn itself out, negating the need to fight the group
online. Other potential solutions range in tasking government agencies to fight the jihadi
cyber soldiers online, to shutting down Twitter and Youtube altogether. Such drastic steps
would be effective in the short term, but would impinge on free speech rights, and cause a
massive loss in intelligence resources. There is a severe intelligence gap on the ground in
Iraq and Syria, and every bit of propaganda produced by the group helps governments to
analyze and study their tactics. (Bunzel 29). Government and law enforcement agencies

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need to come together and coordinate their actions to take down ISIS supporters on the
web.

It is clear that the Islamic State is not a group to be ignored. ISIS is innovative and

dynamic, using propaganda and an unprecedented manipulation of the current social

media boom to recruit foreign fighters. ISIS has used medieval brutality in a technologically
advanced world, essentially rewriting the jihadi playbook of extremism. With business-like
determination, ISIS has sold itself as a satanic monster with an appetite for fear and a thirst
for blood that has become wildly popular among the young, computer-literate foreigners
so abundant in todays world. Online they have advertised a utopia, a refuge from the
impurities of our modern society. This paper was written in the midst of a global terrorist
pandemic; a fast and ever-changing story. A year from now ISIS could be forgotten, only
to be replaced by something equally as brutal and monstrous. The mission of defeating
ISIS may never be realized, as their ideology is not something a drone strike or bullet can
damage. With patience and detail, their online footprint can be minimized, and another
step can be taken towards peace in the Middle East.

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