Twitter Has 45,000+ Pro-ISIS Accounts

A new study found there are at least 46,000 Twitter accounts that support the Islamic State, despite the micro-blogging site’s attempts to shutter accounts in late 2014, the Brookings Institution said Thursday. The ISIS Twitter Census found that three-quarters of the users tweet in Arabic and an estimated one-in five in English, with most accounts tracked to ISIS-held territories in Iraq and Syria. Technologist J.M. Berger, who co-authored the report, said accounts had an average of about 1,000 followers. Expert Aaron Zelin said militants are not using Twitter for direct recruitment though. “Most of that happens on applications like Kik, WhatsApp, and Skype, which are peer-to-peer. What they are doing publicly on Twitter is to draw people in.”