ISIS channels on Telegram pop up as fast as they're shut down

Mobile messagingservice Telegram is racing to shut down broadcast channels usedby Islamic State to promote its causes and recruit members, butthe group is creating new channels apparently just as quickly.

Berlin-based Telegram, created two years ago by the founderof Russia's most popular social network site Vkontakte, hascaught on in many corners of the globe as an ultra-secure way toquickly upload and share videos, texts and voice messages.

Two months ago, a new public broadcast feature of Telegrambecame the preferred method for Islamic State to broadcast newsand share videos of military victories or sermons, according tosecurity researchers.

The group used Telegram to claim responsibility for theParis attacks, which left 129 people dead, and the bombing of aRussian airliner over Egypt last month, which killed 224.

78 IS-related channels blocked

In a statement published on its site on Wednesday, Telegramsaid it has been able to identify and block 78 IS-related
broadcast channels in 12 languages on its site.

"We were disturbed to learn that Telegram's public channelswere being used by ISIS to spread their propaganda," it said.

• Anonymous vs. ISIS: The way to fight ISIS online

The company's statement appeared an hour after Reuterspublished a piece detailing Islamic State's use of Telegram.

Some of the IS sites blocked by Telegram quickly re-emergedin new locations on its network. Some were quickly shut down,while other relocated channels remained running.

While we do block terroristbotsand channels, we will notblock anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions.- Telegram

Alex Kassirer, a counter-terrorism analyst with the NewYork-based private intelligence firm Flashpoint, said IS had
begun using Telegram channels in recent months to broadcast press releases aimed at recruiting and inspiring followers.

Some of the dozens of channels set up drew as many as 16,000followers, said Rita Katz, director of Bethesda, Maryland-basedextremist monitoring service SITE Intelligence Group. Some ofthose channels can no longer be reached, and a message wasdisplayed saying they were no longer available.

Unlike Twitter, which has closed thousands of accounts tiedto Islamic State for violating company rules, until WednesdayTelegram had appeared to let the jihadists operate without fearof being turned off or traced, Katz said.

Telegram, which did not respond to requests for comment,explicitly says on its site that it makes efforts to block
Islamic State.

The company statement stressed that shutting IS channels onthe site was not taken to restrict free speech, which its
ultra-secure messaging site is designed to encourage.

"While we do block terrorist bots and channels, we will notblock anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions,"Telegram said.

Members-only channels

But IS supporters continue to take advantage of privatemembers-only channels on Telegram to spread word of the newpublic propaganda channels.

One newly set-up channel in English called Trendit, hasnearly 500 followers so far, while other jihadi channels aimed
at Islamic State supporters in Indonesia remained up, analystssaid.

"The problem with blocking Telegram groups, like suspendingTwitter or Facebook accounts, is that it becomes a game for ISsupporters to see how fast they can get up another account,"said researcher Sidney Jones, who runs think-tank in Jakartacalled the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

It is often as simple as changing a letter or adding anumber, then "shouting out" the new name to other followers
online, she said.

Telegram was set up by the two brothers who foundedVKontakte.

Pavel Durov, 31, the frontman, and his brother Nicolay, 34,the technical talent, were inspired by former National SecurityAgency contractor Edward Snowden's battle against widespreadInternet surveillance and their own run-ins with Russianauthorities.