ISIS Propaganda TV Channel Launches In Mosul, Adding To Islamic State Group's Outreach

The Islamic State group has added to its propaganda arsenal with a news channel that can reportedly reach over a half a million people in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where it was launched, according to the Middle East Monitor. The news channel, which is called BEIN HD4, is being broadcast on an Egyptian-owned satellite company’s network, though it was unclear if the Egyptian government had granted the group permission to use its services.

The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, is well known for its fluency with propaganda and has used a variety of media forms from videos to online magazines to further its cause. To recruit teenagers, the terrorist group has also used social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube or even its own smartphone app that it developed to reach users in a more secure and controlled way on Android devices.

Their propaganda and recruitment efforts have been successful, and not just within the Middle East where the new satellite channel is focused. More than one hundred American teenagers were enticed by the terrorist message and recruited to join in 2015, prompting a sweeping effort by groups like the American Islamic Congress, a nonprofit that seeks to combat Islamic stereotypes and warns youth against terrorism. The organization set up nearly 100 chapters in the U.S. as of late 2015.

The propaganda efforts to recruit European youth have been pretty effective, too. As of mid-2015, thousands of Europeans were said to have joined ISIS, and many of those recruits were found and radicalized on the internet. Just like in the United States, European officials have been working hard to counteract the threat from online, but it is difficult. Since the internet is a vast network, it can be exceedingly difficult for security forces to weed out specific threats and communications.