The Islamic State's (IS) Twitter traffic is down by 45 percent over the last two years, according to a report by the Obama administration.
Digital Trends reports that the plunge in the Islamic State's Twitter traffic is due largely to American and allied efforts at combating the terrorist organization via social media. The U.S. Twitter forces have pushed down a significant portion of IS' online traffic by using images and messaging detailing the brutality and suffering endured as a result of IS activity.
Included in anti-IS content have been images such as image of a male hand covering a woman's mouth, with a caption stating that the Islamic State organization "deprives woman her voice." There is also an image of a teddy bear bearing a message in Arabic noting that the Islamic State "lashes purity," "kills innocence," "slaughters childhood" or "humiliates children."
One of the most powerful anti-IS images on Twitter is, perhaps, that of a woman wearing a black veil weeping bloody tears. The image is showing the message: "Women under ISIS. Enslaved. Battered. Beaten. Humiliated. Flogged."
As the Islamic State is known for using the web to recruit would-be followers and spread propaganda, the social media battle has been a key one against the extremist group. The U.S. and their allies hope that with their own anti-IS propaganda they may dissuade individuals from joining the terrorist organization.
The Associated Press reports that keeping ISIS quieter on Twitter requires a variety of efforts, including messages that mix up ISIS propaganda. To these correlated efforts has also contributed a new help from Twitter for combating terrorism-promoting content.
PCMag reports that the government acknowledges, however, the possibility that its efforts to counter ISIS messaging on Twitter could be pushing the supporters of the extremist group to other social networks. Once ISIS turns to secure social networks like Telegram or WhatsApp, it becomes more likely that its supporters are messaging logistics than propaganda.
