Hackathons take on Islamic State in cyberspace battle

COMBATING EXTREMISM: A team member working on a project in order to find ways to combat the Islamic State group's online propaganda machine, in Sydney.

SYDNEY: In a small room close by the Sydney Opera House, 60 people representing a vast range of communities and industries are working feverishly to come up with ways to combat the Islamic State group’s online propaganda machine. 

The extremists’ ideology and use of social media has struck a chord with thousands of youngsters across the world, drawing them to fight in Iraq and Syria or show support from their home countries.