FBI Shuts Down Prominent New ISIS Recruitment Website

NEWS IN BRIEF
January 31, 2017
VOL 53 ISSUE 04
Technology · Terrorism · Government · Internet

WASHINGTON—Saying the measure would greatly aid efforts to combat the rise of anti-American sentiment online, the FBI announced Tuesday that it had shut down a prominent new ISIS recruitment website, www.whitehouse.gov. “Blocking sites like this one, which spread propaganda in the effort to attract people to ISIS, is vital to winning the war on terror,” said spokesperson Terrence Moreland, adding that the FBI recently became aware of the site after prominent ISIS leaders began posting on social media in support of the online recruitment hub. “While it can be hard to keep up with the number of internet outlets posting Islamic extremist propaganda, ultimately sites like whitehouse.gov are the greatest resource ISIS has to incite terrorism against the U.S. Even though we finally managed to shut it down after a little more than a week, the site was so popular that there’s no telling how many individuals have already been radicalized.” Moreland went on to say that the FBI was also contacting Twitter to request the removal of several prominent accounts known to encourage ISIS recruitment, including @DHSgov, @POTUS, and @realDonaldTrump, but admitted there was only so much it could do to silence such a determined enemy.

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