INTRODUCTION – CASE STUDY 2

Since its establishment in 2014, Islamic State has used a highly effective media strategy to spread its message, wage a propaganda war, and recruit adherents online. It has produced material extolling the benefits of life under Islamic State, the power of its military, as well as stories about the supposed victimization of Muslims in Western society. That narrative has focused on the supposed benefits of life under IS rule, including things like its healthcare system; the group’s military power and superiority; its legitimacy in the Islamic world.

IS forces swept into Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in June 2014. For the three years the city was under its control, IS produced numerous propaganda reports from there, claiming to show the improved quality of life, and the military might of the group in Mosul.

This case study will explore perpetrator content released during the group’s occupation of the city:

This case study will also look at how Storyful’s approach to content discovery and verification was applied to the battle to retake the city, launched by Iraqi forces in October 2016. The city was retaken in July 2017.

During the battle to retake the city, Storyful applied the same tools to capturing instances of human rights abuses carried out by Iraqi forces and militia groups.

This content was divided into three distinct categories for the purposes of this report:

• Content relating to IS’s initial show of force and military capability
• Content relating to life under IS control
• Content relating to human rights abuses (by IS and others)