Channel 4 News: He spent his mornings, afternoons and evenings sending thousands of tweets of propaganda about the Islamic State militant group, acting as the leading conduit of information between jihadis, supporters, and recruits.
His tweets, written under the name Shami Witness, were seen two million times each month, making him perhaps the most influential Islamic State Twitter account, with over 17,700 followers.
Shami Witness cheered when people were beheaded – but when outed by the news, he begged for privacy claiming his life would be endangered.
— Shiraz Maher (@ShirazMaher) December 11, 2014
BBC News reports: The unmasking of an English-speaking online jihad supporter based in India, who was popular among foreign fighters in Syria, casts light on the decentralised nature of the media operations of the group known as Islamic State (IS).
The Twitter activist Shami Witness played an important role in amplifying the message of IS and had over 17,000 followers before he disappeared – more than some of the key jihadist media groups.
But he was just one of an army of online supporters the group relies on to spread its message in a range of languages – none of whom operate officially on behalf of the group.
Poverty&grievances as "the root cause" of extremism? Shami Witness: an upwardly mobile,well off Bangalore-executive,ISIL cheerleading coward
— Maajid Nawaz (@MaajidNawaz) December 12, 2014
Shami Witness couldn't join ISIS b/c his "family needs" him. But all the people ISIS slaughtered, their family didn't need them.
— BSyria (@BSyria) December 12, 2014
