ISIS's social media use examined at Halifax International Security Forum
Military experts say social media need to be a bigger part of the effort to defeat militant groups
Combatting the use of social media as a communication, recruiting and fundraising tool in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a hot topic at this weekend's Halifax International Security Forum.
"If you look at the investments Daesh [ISIS] has made in social media, videography, it would compete frankly with the best of us and we haven't really fully grasped that, nor thought of a strategy that we need to deal with that," said Janice Stein, a professor in the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
The conference usually covers a range of international conflicts, but this year, the topics are more focused in light of the attacks just over a week ago in Paris that killed 129 people.
In response to the attacks, the hacking group Anonymous says it took down more than 20,000 ISIS-linked Twitter accounts in recent days.
After the Twitter takedown, ISIS, which has been called other names such as Daesh, called the hacking group "idiots" and vowed to create new accounts by using an encryptedTwitter account.
Military experts say social media need to be a bigger part of the effort to defeat militant groups.