publication

The Islamic State's virtual caliphate

Authors:
Matthew BAMBER-ZRYD
2023

By the peak of its territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2015, the Islamic State had developed an unprecedented virtual caliphate that used social media and messaging platforms to disseminate its sophisticated video, written and audio propaganda content that sold the virtues of the Islamic State. This article focuses on the relationship between the physical and virtual caliphates and the adaptions made in the virtual caliphate in response to the fall of the Islamic State’s territory in Iraq and Syria.