Twitter crackdown aftermath: Isis turns to messaging app Telegram

Members of the Islamic State group are increasingly taking to Russia-developed messaging app Telegram to take advantage of its heavy encryption. The group has moved away from Twitter, as the site came down heavily on Isis accounts that transmit pro-Isis propaganda, which can be used as a tool to radicalise and recruit youths on the internet.

The Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), has been suffering serious setbacks in both Iraq and Syria, where it has been constantly losing ground. As a result, they are always on the lookout for new recruits, whom they are hunting online.

It now seems the Western world has also taken notice of this phenomenon, with France and Germany calling for greater monitoring of the app and messages sent through it. Both countries are wary of this new threat, because they have been of recent subjected to terror attacks, which were hitherto unheard of in the entire European continent.

"Encrypted communications among terrorists constitute a challenge during investigations. Solutions must be found to enable effective investigation, while at the same time protecting the digital privacy of citizens by ensuring the availability of strong encryption," the two countries have said in a statement, according to the Voice of America.

The Isis militants' move from Twitter to Telegram is believed to have been prompted by the micro-blogging site blocking more than 235,000 accounts that belonged to either Isis members or known sympathisers of the group. Lawmakers across the world have long called for Twitter and other popular social media platforms like Facebook to join the fight against Isis.

Telegram, at the time of writing of this report, had more than 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store alone. It was first launched on iOS on Aug. 14, 2013.