Recent headlines:

More details on these and other stories can now be found on the new Virtually Islamic blog:

OpenDemocracy.net, “I’d prefer to die in Poland”: Chechnya’s most famous YouTuber in exile faces deportation to Russia 

Said Temsamani, Eurasia Review, Morocco: Interactive Radio, TV And Social Media To Enhance True Values Of Islam – OpEd  

Hadith centred programme promoted by Moroccan King Mohammed VI.  

Jamie Prentis, The National, Russian trolls stoked UK hatred of Islam after terrorist attacks, 1 Nov 2018 

amaliah, #ProtectYoungHijabis the Hashtag Formed to Protect Over 900 Young Muslim Women From One Sexual Predator 

albawaba.com, Do Arab Governments Control Arabic-Language Twitter?

C.J. Werleman, alaraby.com, How do white Muslims experience Islamophobia? Social media linkage to this interesting article/opinion piece.
 

"I'm white and English. I've never faced racism in my life. I became a Muslim, then people would hurl abuse as I was no longer white," tweeted Christopher John George. "I never knew how bad it felt until I was on the other side… it is DISGUSTING."

"His tweet illuminates not only how Islamophobia is a virulent form of racism, but also narrates an untold story of the Muslim experience in western societies today - the story of how white converts to Islam are now considered by some racists as traitors to their race."  

University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UWTSD Academic focusses on Islam in cyberspace with new book release

"An international publication focussing on how cyber-Islamic environments are transforming religious authority has been released by a UWTSD Lampeter based academic."

Tweeting the Qur'an

While you might want to ignore some of the inevitable discussion associated with this Reddit post, the graphic is interesting for those of us studying digital Islamic issues. I haven't explored the maths on this. I discuss Twitter and the Qur'an in my next book:

idarwishman, Reddit, 96% of the Quran is now tweetable with the new 280 character limit (inspired by the tweetable Bible graph) [OC], 15 Nov 2017

After name ban, China arrests Muslim for 'tweeting Quran'

The New Arab, After name ban, China arrests Muslim for 'tweeting Quran'
"A Muslim woman in China's troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang has been arrested for posting passages from the Quran and other religious material on social media."

Terrorists are winning the digital arms race, experts say

csoonline.com, Terrorists are winning the digital arms race, experts say, 17 Jan 2017 "Twitter removed about 250,000 accounts connected with ISIS in one year, but the terrorist group uses 90 other social media platforms, Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol said Tuesday. Terrorist groups have begun to live stream their attacks, and they are using the internet to launch "innovative crowdfunding" campaigns, he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland."

Twitter Must Do More to Block ISIS

NYT, Twitter Must Do More to Block ISIS, 13 Jan 2017 "Like many Americans, the two of us have strong reasons to hope that 2017 is better than recent years. On Nov. 13, 2015, Beatriz’s daughter, Nohemi, was killed in the Paris terror attacks by an Islamic State cell operating out of Brussels. On March 22, 2016, Cameron’s husband, Alexander, and her sister-in-law, Sascha, were murdered at the Brussels Airport by terrorists from the same cell. One hundred and fifty-nine others also died in those attacks, and more than 600 people were injured."

ISIS Twitter Guide

Jerusalem Post, ISIS publishes a ‘how to’ outfox Twitter guide "The terrorist entity has published a guide on how to outfox Twitter’s efforts, according to an advance copy of a report by the Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group of IDC’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism obtained by The Jerusalem Post."

Watch the most iconic Arab Vine moments as Twitter axes app

middleeasteye.net, VIDEO: Watch the most iconic Arab Vine moments as Twitter axes app

#BritainsBiggestMosque

#BritainsBiggestMosque is currently trending, based on Channel 5's programme this evening

'Hashtag fail? #BringBackOurGirls two years on'

AFP, Hashtag fail? #BringBackOurGirls two years on, 13 Apr 2016 "On the ground, 219 of the 276 girls are still missing, their Government Girls Secondary School is a broken ruin and Chibok is desperate for development."

Twitter praised for cracking down on use by Islamic State

Reuters/CNBC, Twitter praised for cracking down on use by Islamic State, 8 Mar 2016 "Officials with the nonprofit Simon Wiesenthal Center praised Twitter on Monday for increasing efforts to thwart Islamic State's use of its platform for recruitment and propaganda."

Isis video targets Twitter and Facebook CEOs over suspended accounts

Guardian, Isis video targets Twitter and Facebook CEOs over suspended accounts, 23 Feb 2016 "Islamic State has released a 25-minute video featuring the faces of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg being riddled with mock bullet holes."

Tareena Shakil

BBC News, Tareena Shakil jailed for six years for joining IS, 1 Feb 2016 "Shakil, a former health worker from Birmingham, but formerly of Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, admitted travelling to Syria but denied joining IS and encouraging acts of terrorism through messages posted on Twitter."

Twitter under pressure??

The Economic Times, Twitter sued by US widow for giving voice to Islamic State, 15 Jan 2016 " Twitter Inc is being sued by the widow of an American killed in Jordan who accuses the social media company of giving a voice to Islamic State, adding to the pressure to crack down on online propaganda linked to terrorism."

#youain'tnomuslimbruv

Metro, Londoner shouts 'You ain't no Muslim bruv!' as police arrest terror suspect, 6 Dec 2015 Hashtag here

@UKAgainstISIL

digitaljournal.com, The British government to use Twitter to combat the threat from ISIS, 28 Aug 2015 "Following more recent threats against the United States and Europe, the British government has begun using Twitter in an attempt to thwart any potential attempt made by the well-funded terror organisation to inflict chaos on to the streets of Britain." See @UKAgainstISIL

Tsarnaev Twitter

Boston Globe, Tsarnaev posted radical messages on second Twitter account, FBI agent testifies

ISIS spread its reach through Twitter with 46,000 accounts

ISIS spread its reach through Twitter with 46,000 accounts - CNET also see Brookings, The ISIS Twitter census: Defining and describing the population of ISIS supporters on Twitter and the report here by J.M. Berger and Jonathon Morgan. The report looks comprehensive, but I have yet to read it in detail.

#daeshbags

Channel 4, Islamic State: just a bunch of #daeshbags? "A new hashtag is taking off on Twitter, and for once it is not One Direction related. It is #daeshbags - and it fits into an online movement ridiculing the #IslamicState group."

Ayatollah’s Twitter

Slate, A Deep Dive Into the Ayatollah’s Twitter Hate for America "The Ayatollah’s abhorrence for the United States permeates his feed, regardless of the topic. When the Ayatollah tweets about a seemingly unrelated topic, such as press freedom, he remembers how much he dislikes America."

#MuslimApologies

vox.com, #MuslimApologies hashtag explodes society's stereotypes of Muslims also see #MuslimApologies and this article from Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, Why people are tweeting their #MuslimApologies