ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group has officially launched a campaign to recruit the next generation of terrorist, toddlers.
The terrorist group earlier this month launched an app for android devices that teaches toddlers the Arabic alphabet. The app, Huroof, teaches young children how to memorize the Arabic ABC’s through song and games.
The Long War Journal, which first broke the story, states that the app and its song uses “jihadist and militaristic terminology.”
The app itself seems very kid friendly with bright colors and cartoon-like drawings. However, as Caleb Weiss of Long War Journal points out, the app uses guns, tanks, ammunition, bullet, rockets, cannons, and swords as pictures for letter association. Its use of catchy children songs that incorporate jihadist ideology makes the app susceptible to young children and their families who get caught up in the child-like theme.
The app was first released and promoted by the ISIS propaganda outlet, the Library of Zeal. On May 10th, 2016, it shared a press release of the android app in Telegram (an encrypted messaging service) with a link to download.
The app is not available on the Google Play Store, but can be found and downloaded off of the internet.
ISIS and other terrorist organizations are no strangers to promoting its propaganda in the age of modern technology. The Guardian reports that in April, the Afghan Taliban had a smartphone app called Alemarah, which housed Taliban videos and statements. Alemarah made it onto the Google Play Store but was removed after an intel group in the United States reported on the launch. ISIS has made great strides in sharing its message with the world. They have launched propaganda videos on Youtube, have a professional magazine called Dabiq, and have thousands of twitter accounts, many which have been removed by groups like Anonymous.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.