The platform includes channels that are unidirectional-where central administrators (termed admins) disseminate material to which members can neither respond nor post-as well as multi-directional chats-allowing members to interact with one another, comment on content, and share new materials. Users do not have to exit the platform, thus sustaining the individual’s engagement exclusively on Telegram, which contributes to social media addiction.

Telegram is a cross-platform messaging service that allows users to send chats, self-destructing messages (which disappear once they are read), photos, videos, and other documents, all integrated directly within the application regardless of the size of the content. However, while companies like Facebook and Twitter have taken steps to address the issue of bad-actors on their platforms, one notable holdout in terms of prioritizing secrecy and privacy is Telegram. These social media platforms have been under considerable pressure to monitor and delete the accounts of a variety of bad actors from across the political spectrum as a result, these companies have started to increasingly police their own platforms and delete accounts identified as disseminating propaganda. In recent years, Jihadi groups like ISIS have relied on open Application Programming Interface (API) platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr to distribute such content.

ISIS has utilized Internet propaganda to its advantage, not only to bolster its expansion in Iraq and Syria, but for recruitment and dissemination of their ideology worldwide. The online media platforms of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) blend graphic audiovisual content with ideological religious writings to sanction and justify violent terrorist tactics throughout the world.

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