Big drop in Islamic State’s Twitter traffic
Among the images: A teddy bear with Arabic writing and messages saying IS \"slaughters childhood,\" \"kills innocence,\" \"lashes purity\" or \"humiliates children.\" A male hand covering a female\'s mouth, saying IS \"deprives woman her voice.\"
Washington:The Islamic State group's Twitter traffic has plunged 45 per cent in the past two years, the Obama administration says, as the US and its allies have countered messages of jihadi glorification with a flood of online images and statements about suffering and enslavement at the hands of the extremist organisation.
Among the images: A teddy bear with Arabic writing and messages saying IS "slaughters childhood," "kills innocence," "lashes purity" or "humiliates children." A male hand covering a female's mouth, saying IS "deprives woman her voice."
A woman in a black niqab (veil), bloody tears coming from a bruised eye, and the caption: "Women under ISIS. Enslaved. Battered. Beaten. Humiliated. Flogged."
US officials cite the drop in Twitter traffic as a sign of progress toward eliminating propaganda they blame for inspiring attacks around the world.
Memes and images depicting the group's treatment of women, children and others are presented almost entirely in Arabic. Whereas the US previously blasted the information out itself, it disseminates messages now through Muslim governments, religious leaders, schools, youth leaders and advocacy groups with credibility in local communities.
