Islamic State's Twitter traffic plunges

Islamic State's Twitter traffic has dropped by 45 per cent in the past two years, with far fewer followers, US statistics show.

An image of a teddy bear with Arabic writing

IS's Twitter traffic has dropped by 45 per cent in the past two years, US statistics show. (AAP)

US government statistics show the Islamic State group's Twitter traffic has plunged 45 per cent in the past two years.

Officials see the drop and other data as evidence they're making progress towards eliminating online terrorist propaganda.

When Washington formed an international coalition to fight IS in September 2014, the US outlined five fronts.

Alongside military action and eliminating foreign fighters and finances, the US stressed the need to confront the group's extremist ideology and stem its popularity.

The campaign struggled early on. But the US now believes it's getting things right.

The US figures show a 6-to-1 ratio of anti-IS content online compared with pro-IS content - an improvement over time.

When pro-IS Twitter accounts are discovered today, they have about 300 followers each. In 2014, they had 1500 followers each.


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Published 9 July 2016 9:22pm
Source: AAP


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