Twitter and Islamic State Deadlock on Social Media Battlefield

Hours after the Brussels terror attacks, a notorious Islamic State operative posted a Twitter message on behalf of the extremist group, which had taken responsibility for the slaughter and warned of more to come. “We promise black days for all crusader nations allied in their war against Islamic State,” tweeted Abu al-Walid, a presumed nom de guerre. Twitter closed that account and similar ones in the hours and days that followed. Walid kept surfacing.

Using his 464th Twitter account, he circulated photos of sweets handed out to celebrate the attacks. US companies such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, joined by online hackers and similarly minded groups, have for months aggressively battled the spread of Islamic State material online. Accounts and posts that would have stayed alive for weeks now sometimes last as little as a few hours. Islamic State supporters, particularly on Twitter, have responded to the crackdown by opening accounts almost as quickly as gatekeepers delete them. This battle, a signature element of warfare in the age of technology, has emerged as a vital front against the spread of Islamic State extremism—its ideology, recruitment and financing.