How can we crush Islamic State online?

It’s rapidly losing territory but remains dangerous on the internet

We are winning the war on the ground against Islamic State. Since the beginning of 2016 the barbaric regime has lost over a quarter of its territory in Syria and Iraq. The most recent success came in January when Iraqi forces liberated eastern Mosul from the jihadists’ evil grip. The western half is expected to fall soon, as is Raqqa, Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold.

But as they lose the physical battle, Islamic State will focus on winning the war online. Unlike beaten armies in history, which have retreated to their border, Islamic State’s fighters will melt into the virtual world, spreading vile propaganda to attract recruits.

It’s sickeningly easy to find manuals online imploring terrorists to kill children, and instructions for making homemade bombs – and Islamic State won’t run out of content soon. A recent report from King’s College London (‘The Islamic State’s Doctrine for Information Warfare’ www.snipca.com/24533) said that the group has assembled a “vast archive of propaganda”, and will release it online “to keep themselves buoyant with nostalgia”. Their aim is to keep their ideology alive, “offering evidence of the good old days”, until they are ready to restore it in reality.

The report stresses how vital the internet is to Islamic State, adding that “propaganda production and dissemination is at times considered to be even more important than military jihad”. A guidebook published by the group last year proclaimed: “Media weapons [can] actually be more potent than atomic bombs”.

Theresa May warned the world about this strategy in her speech at the G7 summit in Sicily, four days after a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester killed 22 people. The Prime Minister urged governments to do more to fight extremism online, saying the struggle is “moving from the battlefield to the internet”.

She called for companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter to face up to their “social responsibility”. Her proposals include forcing websites to build tools that automatically identify and remove extremist material. Mrs May also demanded that sites pass on material that could prevent a terrorist attack, and toughen their rules on what comprises ‘harmful content’.

The Government wants Britain, backed by Nato, to lead a new international effort to fight extremism online. Mrs May told The Times last month that the internet should be globally regulated, just as rules apply internationally to banks, saying it was the only way to make giant tech companies take action.

At the G7 summit the Prime Minister acknowledged that tech companies are taking online extremism more seriously, but insisted that more should be done. She is likely to support Google’s commitment to creating an international forum that ensures “terrorists do not have a voice online”. It has joined forces with Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter to create a ‘digital fingerprint’ that

helps them quickly find and remove extremist videos.

Such measures will help, but governments must also play their part by countering Islamic State propaganda. Leading the way is the US State Department’s new Global Engagement Center, which in February started showing anti-jihadist adverts to people who have expressed sympathies with Islamic State’s cause. If, as polls predict, Mrs May wins the general election, she must ensure the UK’S intelligence agencies follow suit.

It’s sickeningly easy online to find instructions for making homemade bombs