Anonymous, the hacker group is famous for many things including a social networking site called Minds. The hacker group has now stepped up its hacktivist efforts by targeting Twitter accounts spreading propaganda about terrorist group ISIS. The targeted accounts have been flooded with images of Japanese anime characters with the aim of trying to influence search engine results for any terms linked to the Islamic State. Twitter has also suspended or shut down some accounts as a result of the actions by Anonymous.
In a concerted effort, Anonymous is also targeting Facebook pages, blogs, websites and web proxies used by the supporters. The efforts are seen as a dilution of the ISIS agenda. According to BBC, the publication of the list of Twitter accounts as well as planned take down of other online resources is part of a broader operation by Anonymous and other hacktivist organization aimed at ISIS and its core supporters online. Over 750 accounts have been taken down as part of this program, with many of them with over 10,000 followers. The organization is also targeting those with smaller number of followers. There has been a call for the tackling of the extremist groups online operations by global leaders including UK Prime minister David Cameron. The calls included demand that internet service providers remove material from the web as well as identify who posted the information.
Its been stated that ISIS/IS/ISIL controls more than 90,000 Twitter accounts, most owned by sympathizers. The efforts may not exactly exterminate ISIS and its sympathizes from the web but will limit their ability to spread propaganda.
Source: BBC Technology
