Members of the world’s leading online hacktivist group are escalating their social media war against the Islamic State in Iraq in Syria (ISIS).
Anonymous released a list of roughly 9,200 accounts it believes are associated with ISIS in a move to pressure Twitter to take them down.
{mosads}Locating jihadis on social media has become a serious concern for Anonymous in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris earlier this year.
For its latest ISIS account dump, Anonymous reportedly worked with two other hacker organizations, GhostSec and CtrlSec. The collaboration was described as unprecedented by one user associated with the movement.
“This is historic amongst the digital world as it’s the first time these groups have come together for something this large,” the user told the International Business Times.
“Usually they are very closed off and not willing to work outside of their circles but this has become so large of a problem they’re willing to form an alliance for what is seen as a greater good.”
ISIS, considered one of the most Web- and media-savvy terrorist groups in history, relies on Twitter to distribute propaganda and recruit new followers.
Twitter has shut down thousands of ISIS-linked accounts, prompting a backlash from ISIS sympathizers, who have threatened violence against the company’s founder and employees.
At least some of the accounts listed by Anonymous have been taken down already.
“We’re releasing [the list] to hold Twitter accountable,” stated the online group XRS One, which was also involved in the effort.
“The more attention it gets the more likely it becomes Twitter takes action in removing these accounts and making a serious impact on the ability of ISIS to spread propaganda and recruit new members.”
Experts have mixed feelings about the movement to expel jihadis from social media.
Some fear that shutting down accounts will further radicalize ISIS sympathizers and cut them off from debates that could moderate their views. Erasing ISIS’s Twitter presence also makes the group harder for intelligence agencies to track.
It is possible that authorities wishing to monitor ISIS will have a new social network to watch very soon. The group’s supporters are working to launch their own social network, though the system appears to be having trouble getting off the ground.