Islamic State, also referred to as Isis, has been using social media to spread propaganda material for quite some time now. The radical Islamist group has been trying to lure Indian Muslims to join it.
The Indian government is planning to start a 24x7 monitoring room to tackle cyber threat received from Isis. On 15 December, the government set up a committee to determine the effectiveness and blue print of setting up a "situation room" to analyse social media, Daily Mail reported.
Headed by Ashok Prasad, Secretary of Internal Security in the Home Ministry, the committee also has members of the External Affairs, and Information Technology ministries as well as from intelligence agencies.
According to intelligence reports received by the government, the terror group also known as Daesh is using regional Indian languages such as Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil to spread Isis' ideology. The alarming trend has left the government worried, India Today reported.
Earlier reports have said Indian youths who have already joined Isis or are planning to join the group were lured by its ideology that was posted online.
According to an intelligence official, "Isis handlers get in touch with potential recruits online on social media. The vulnerable ones get radicalised after interacting with ISIS members, handlers online and then they are given further instructions on how to join the outfit," Daily Mail reported.
Reportedly, there are 23 Indians who have so far joined the radical Islamist group, while there were several others who were intercepted before they could join Daesh in Syria. Of these, 15 Indians are still part of the group, two have returned home and six are dead, the intelligence official revealed, according to India Today.
Increasingly, the online social domains are becoming the new ground for terror outfigroups.
Reactions to various communal instances have also had the tendency to disrupt public law and order, according to India Today.
