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Media Mentions

December 22, 2025

Online activity driving continual threat from Islamic State

The Islamic State’s (IS) caliphate collapsed over six years ago, but the terrorist group’s ideology continues to inspire catastrophic violence worldwide. 

The Wall Street Journal’s recent article emphasizes the consistent online presence from IS, which has facilitated a continual recruitment and radicalization process. 

Moustafa Ayad, ISD executive director for Africa, the Middle East and Asia, spoke to the outlet about IS strategies to evade detection over a decade after online platforms banned the group, such as removing IS-related text and logos. 

These tactics have proven successful. The outlet highlighted ISD research revealing that an IS-claimed attack outside Moscow in 2024 killing 137 people recirculated 73 times on social-media platform X and received 22 million views before being taken down. 

The full article is available on The Wall Street Journal. 

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ISD Contributors

Moustafa Ayad
Research Chair in Global Islamism & Counter-Terrorism