New Media as the Means of Propaganda of the Islamic State

Master thesis focuses on a study of new media as a propaganda means of radical Islamic groups. The work aims to determine the impact of new media on the spread of the Islamic State’s propaganda via different means, including the Telegram messaging app and other hostile actors. The study examines a set of the IS-affiliated channels in the Telegram messenger. These channels are an integral part of the complicated system of jihadists’ media centers and exemplify information warfare on the Internet. Moreover, the materials distributed by the IS militants via new media represent new approaches to international propaganda on the Internet. The study of the content of this nature makes possible to reveal the formats jihadists tend to use and to review the effectiveness of these practices via narratives and other approaches. Finally, this kind of research helps to recreate the complex structure of the IS-affiliated media centers, starting from the design of propaganda materials to their distribution via Telegram messaging app. As a part of this master thesis the IS propaganda in the context of new media is studied. In this work the problem of the proliferation of such content is viewed through the prism of the Telegram messenger, which stands as the quintessence of the new media itself. This aspect required the formulation of the definition of new media. Therefore, a considerable part of the master thesis is devoted to the study of the structure of the Telegram messenger in the context of the IS-affiliated channels. The research focuses on identifying the ways of disseminating propaganda materials in the IS-affiliated Telegram channels, analyzing the formats of such and the IS media assets as well as determining the effectiveness of appropriate approaches due to the uniqueness and novelty of the designated theme. Keywords: Islamic state (IS), new media, messenger, messaging app, Telegram, propaganda, terrorism, jihadists.