A news broadcaster affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS has released an Android app that teaches children the Arabic alphabet - and it's full of references to weapons and jihad.
Al Bayan Radio, which broadcasts ISIS propaganda on radio waves in the Middle East and through its Android apps, made the app available to supporters on the encrypted messaging app Telegram and other platforms ISIS commonly uses. The app isn't available on the Google Play store, but can be accessed through files shared online.
This app is the latest step in Al Bayan's expansion - the radio network broadcasts on FM frequencies in the Middle East, but has also recently released other Android apps and Telegram channels that distribute its propaganda to a wider audience.
The Long War Journal explained how the kids' app works:
The app has games for memorizing and how to write the Arabic letters in addition to including a nasheed (a cappella Islamic songs) designed to help teach the alphabet. The lyrics in the nasheed are littered with jihadist terminology, while other games within the app also include militaristic vocabulary with more common, basic words. Words like 'tank,' 'gun,' and 'rocket' are among the first few taught within the application.
The site took posted these screenshots from the app:
Al Bayan
Al Bayan
Al Bayan
The website noted that this is ISIS' first app, however, aimed exclusively at children.
But it's far from the only example of ISIS (which is also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh) trying to indoctrinate children under the pretense of educating them.
The group has also released textbooks that teach various subjects using weapons and other terrorist motifs.
ISIS
Children have also featured prominently in photos and videos that ISIS has distributed through its various propaganda networks. They are shown at training camps and in schools, leading experts to worry that children living in ISIS territory are being indoctrinated with terrorist ideology at a young age, which could be difficult to reverse whenever ISIS is defeated.