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| Cyber |
| The Rise of Besira: Islamic State Supporters in Search of a Digital 'Safe Space' |
| 2026-10-18 |
| Paywalled [MilitantWire] Counter-terrorism efforts have disrupted the pro-Islamic State (IS) digital landscape, including an IS-controlled website running Rocket.Chat that users considered to be one of the most secure. These pressures have prompted some supporters to seek other digital communal spaces. One emergent alternative is the Besira website, which recently began evolving into a quasi-social media platform. While the Rocket.Chat workspace may lose more prominence, it is unlikely to truly be abandoned due to its reliability and greater security. Over the past two years, international law enforcement activity has significantly disrupted the pro-IS digital landscape. First, the servers of the I’lam Foundation, the multilingual outlet that was a major resource for supporters for years, were seized during a June 2024 operation spanning five countries. Two months later, Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France, leading to stronger counter-terrorism compliance by the platform. These events occurred alongside generally increased counterterrorism pressures following the three attacks by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) at the start of 2024 and significantly disturbed the pro-IS digital landscape. The downing of I’lam created a need for broad access to pro-IS publications, while Telegram’s stricter enforcement pushed users toward more lenient, less moderated social media applications. Related: Pavel Durov 12/25/2025 Durov accused Macron of trying to turn the European Union into a digital Gulag Pavel Durov 12/13/2025 'Trump is our enemy.' The EU is unable to comprehend the new political reality Pavel Durov 12/09/2025 'Abolish the EU.' Musk, Rubio, Durov, and Medvedev versus the 'Fourth Reich' |
| Posted by:badanov |