Facing Online Clampdown, ISIS Promotes Presence On Canadian Messaging App Nandbox
In late December 2019,
Islamic State (ISIS) media operatives using Riot.im and TamTam
messaging apps posted links to the group's official media arm Nashir
News Agency and pro-ISIS media groups on the Canadian messenger app
Nandbox. This was done to maintain a presence on the free messaging app
in response to the ongoing purge of ISIS accounts, groups, and channels
on other platforms mainly Telegram, TamTam, and Riot.im, which began on
November 22, 2019. However, ISIS is likely to continue publishing its
content on various platforms simultaneously in an effort to "disseminate
the mujahideen's media materials" and counter the massive online
clampdown.
On TamTam, which is owned by the major
Russian internet company Mail.Ru, ISIS's official media arm posted links
to its official channel on Nandbox and urged followers to subscribe.
The new Nandbox channel has 20 members so far.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL012120.jpg)
Nandbox is a Canadian
software-as-a-service company that owns a multi-platform messaging app
by the same name that works on mobile devices. The app is easy to
download from Google Play and requires an email address to be accessed.
According to its website, over one million users are currently using the
instant messaging service.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121201.jpg)
In another post on December 18, 2019,
Nashir News on TamTam shared two Nandbox groups called "Media War," each
of which had an image that included text vowing that the group will
emerge "victorious" in the ongoing media war. The two groups are no
longer accessible.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121203.jpg)
On the UK messaging app Riot.im, an ISIS
supporter urged followers on a pro-ISIS room to use Nandbox and offered
steps on how to sign up.
Warning users against activating the app
using a personal phone number, he asked them to activate the app using
the encrypted email service ProtonMail or by creating a "fake" email
using a Telegram bot. He also shared a list including 19 links to the
group's official media outlets and other pro-ISIS media groups on
Nandbox.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121204.jpg)
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121204-1.jpg)
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL012120a.jpg)
In the same room, a pro-ISIS media group
also has a channel on Nandbox that has 47 members so far. Shortly
after, the group released posters threatening attacks against Christians
in the West during Christmas.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121205.jpg)
Another ISIS supporter in the same room shared a pro-ISIS Nandbox group dubbed "Islamic State." The group has 11 members.
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121206.jpg)
![](https://www.memri.org/sites/default/files/cjlab/2020/01/CJL0121207.jpg)
Source: https://www.memri.org/cjlab/facing-online-clampdown-isis-promotes-presence-on-canadian-messaging-app-nandbox
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