The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which is the local and increasingly powerful chapter of al-Qaeda, issued a statement on Facebook and Twitter affirming that it has nothing to do with the many Web pages bearing its name. The statement stressed that the only Facebook and Twitter pages that represent ISIS are those of the Itissam Foundation and its official website.

The reason for the announcement was the proliferation of “jihadist” websites and their increased visibility on social networking sites in general. Searching for the term “Islamic state” on Facebook brings results of more than 500 private or public groups, with thousands of followers. The same is true on Twitter, where searching for “al-Qaeda” or “jihad” leads to similar results. Furthermore, there are Web pages specialized in offering services to would-be jihadists, while YouTube is home to official channels for a variety of armed factions that periodically upload videos of killings, bombings or executions.

In addition, we find many offshoot pages. In Iraq, for example, there are pages dedicated to ISIS branches in Baghdad, Diyala and Mosul.

Social networking websites of course employ mechanisms to flag pages that promote violence or racism. But owners of these pages find legal loopholes that permit them to carry on, through encouraging followers to comment on and “like” their pages, thus overwhelming the number of “abuse reports” asking to ban the page. This measure guarantees the pages’ survival in their capacity as “popular” sites.