ISIS social network Khelafabook launches

WHEN you keep getting banned and blocked from social media, there’s only one thing left to do — set up your own. And that’s exactly what IS supporters have done.

Inside the social networking site for jihadis

WHEN you keep getting banned and blocked from social media, there’s only one thing left to do — set up your own.

Except in this case, it’s a site designed for the use of IS supporters.

Welcome to Khelafabook, a site that claims to be independent and not sponsored by Islamic State but does assure users “we love to die as much as you love to live”.

But the site, which was set up to “show the world we do not only carry guns and live in caves”, has already “temporarily shut down” to protect the privacy of its members.

The social networking site comes weeks after Britain declared a cyber war on the terror group, which has been waging a propaganda campaign to recruit members.

The network has a map of the world with IS logos and appears to have been built on a platform called SocialKit, The Independent reported.

According to the UK media outlet, the site was established by a man in the Iraqi city of Mosul — who registered his country as Islamic State — but is hosted in Egypt.

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Last year, Britain’s Home Office counterterrorism internet unit authorised a record 30,000 “take downs” of websites and blog spots directly linked to IS or promoting lone-wolf-style attacks.

It also follows last year’s revelation that Facebook is riddled with Australian Muslims supporting IS.

Using the surname al-Australi or al-Astrali, which means “from Australia”, Australian extremists have been able to hide their identities as they fight for IS in Syria or Iraq. However some do use their real names.

Last month, one expert warned that IS’s ability to attract thousands of foreign fighters to join its cause was perhaps its most terrifying — and mystifying — success.

Counterterrorism expert John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism of the New York Police Department, said IS’s pitch to potential members was not only evil but effective.

He warned its use of social media, in particular Twitter, was crucial for recruiting more members and, unlike al-Qaeda, the terror group appeared to have a clear goal rather than a vague mandate of “global jihad”.