Islamist militants using mobiles as propaganda tool: Study

They contained copies of videos, songs, speeches and images that followers are encouraged to pass on, the BBC reports.

The study was led by German researcher Nico Prucha, who has spent seven years cataloguing the materials put online by Jihadists, has also revealed that some of them were also using Bluetooth short-range radio technology to anonymously spread information to potential supporters.

Prucha also said that the Qaeda might have been dismantled long time back had internet services and mobile phones not been in their access.

"It's the only way for them to remain part of the debate. Without it they would be isolated like they were in the 1980s," he said.

The researcher also said that the materials of these cells were sent to several followers by copying them repeatedly, but this process makes their effectives lesser, especially in case of videos.

"If you copy a VHS tape 10 times the quality gets really bad," Prucha said, adding that the web had removed these limitations.

"Now I don't need to know any jihadist to see these materials. And the quality does not degrade over time," he added.

Published by HT Syndication with permission from Asian News International.

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