Tech 4 Peace
Is it true that the United States of America has shut down the websites of some TV channels and didn't close down ISIS websites?
This question was circulated on social media platforms as in:
The truth:
First: Regarding the official websites of ISIS:
No website belongs to Amaq News Agency or Al-Naba newspaper is currently working, as the United States of America, with its partners, is shutting down any ISIS websites within days of its launch, and among those campaigns what happened in 2018 with the participation of United States of America, UK, and Canada, where the Amaq channel website and Nasher News website, Al-Nabaa TV website, were closed plus another website called "Halmo" and other websites.
Second: Regarding the pro-ISIS websites that are not official:
The ISIS supporters create websites from time to time to publish what official ISIS media shares, but these websites are also being closed days after its launch, such as the elokabe website, and the ISIS supporters complain about the closing of their websites.
Third: Examples from websites belongs to ISIS that was recently closed:
Amaq News Agency website: amaq.cc & amaq.co
Al-Bayan Radio website: https://albayanradio.net
Elokabe website: https://elokabe.org
Anfal website: https://anfal.me
The campaigns to close down the ISIS channels, websites and accounts are still ongoing, which has dealt a severe blow to the ISIS group, which made it demand its supporters to increase their media activity. Here.
Noting that the U.S. Department of Justice announced a statement on June 22, 2021, that says: “Based on court orders, the United States seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hizballah (KH). The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated IRTVU as a Specially Designated National (SDN) for being owned or controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC). SDNs are prohibited from obtaining services, including website and domain services, in the United States without an OFAC license. OFAC’s announcement explained that components of the government of Iran, including IRTVU and others like it,
disguised as news organizations or media outlets, targeted the United States with disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations. Thirty-three of the websites seized today were operated by IRTVU. The 33 domains are owned by a United States company. IRTVU did not obtain a license from OFAC prior to utilizing the domain names".
Important note: The article talks about websites (websites on the internet) and not accounts on social media platforms.
