ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the rise and fall of Islamic State, exploring how they embraced digital technologies and media to establish a global presence and impact, spreading their brand of digital terror far beyond the middle east and shaking western societies to their core. After an overview of Islamic State’s formation and development, the chapter explores their media operations, looking at how they used digital technologies for recruitment and to spread their ideology and terror to the west. It then considers the online fight against Islamic State, from government and security service campaigns through to public trolling attacks. Finally, it considers the military defeat of IS, its impact upon its online appeal and its chances of survival into the future.
