The hacktivist network, Anonymous, has been taking down ISIS-related Twitter accounts and websites in a bid to prevent the terrorist organization from propagating its message online.
As a part of Anonymous RedCult Operation, #OpISIS, a post on Pastebin lists a long variety of Twitter handles targeted, alongside Facebook accounts, that Anonymous says seem to have ‘close contact’ with the terrorist organization. This was only the very first shot in Anonymous’ war on terror and the hacktivists have been targeting Islamic State-associated Twitter and Facebook accounts to decrease the terrorist group’s capability of spreading its message online.
Anonymous states that #OpISIS isn’t a continuation of the previous operation, #OpCharlieHebdo, as some have claimed, but has its origins in something entirely different and with a distinct motivation.
Although part of the way through the video things go off on a tangent and there is rambling talk of customs and Chinese proverbs, finally the point of #OpISIS is revealed:
“It is perhaps for this reason, and this reason alone, that it is important to set the record straight as to what exactly it was that sparked off #OpISIS… so that those who think or claim that they are in the know, when in fact they know nothing, can perhaps be enlightened with regard to what makes Anonymous — and certain moral factions in particular — think.
As an Anonymous insider and a long-serving member of the small but capable strike team that hit a series of ISIS websites in the immediate aftermath of #OpCharlieHebdo as January 2015 began to draw to a close (an event that was initially reported only by the far from mainstream Counter Current news website), I am in a position to reveal that, like so much that Anonymous is involved with, one of the primary motivations behind the attack was to expose government lies about what the Cyber Caliphate had been getting up to, the fact that the US military in particular had been lying to its own people about what ISIS had been doing, in addition to keeping them misinformed about the extent of the Cyber Caliphate’s online capabilities, was one of many factors that was to determine the first stage initiation of #OpISIS by the Anonymous RedCult strike team.
Of the many other motivations subsequently broadcast across cyberspace through the creation and proliferation of the RedCult’s own unique series of videos, another primary motivation reminiscent of #OpChanology, the now legendary online campaign by Anonymous against the Church of Scientology, was — and is — the fact that Anonymous sees the internet as its own principle domain and that anything that infringes on the domain in an oppressive way is a fair and legitimate target for Anonymous.”
To put it differently, the internet is owned by Anonymous and if they don’t agree with your activities, they will come for you.
Anonymous recommends: Protect your PC & mobile devices from hackers and governments & surf and download anonymously
SOURCE:
“Anonymous Sets the Record Straight regarding Its Battle with ISIS.” BetaNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. http://betanews.com/2015/03/12/anonymous-sets-the-record-straight-regarding-its-battle-with-isis/
Picking up and adopting the very dubious “war on terror” terminology is an error. After sept 11th, the West in a very Orwellian move claimed to undergo a “war on terror”. However terror is an abstract and subjective concept. This meant that they could deem any nation, person or action “Terror” and by the very use of that language and it’s links (reinforced by constant repetitive media coverage) to various attrocities like Sept 11th, they are able to sanction and endorse any and all actions in response to it. Drone strikes no doubt cause a whole lot of terror to the people being bombed- Should the USA then destroy it’s own drones?
I hate to pick fault with the article but if Anonymous and people linked with it do not confront this use of language and propoghanda then who will?
Perhaps the egalitarian and righteous members of anonymous could target for exposure those entities of the U.S. government behind the conception and funding of the nationwide cause stalking and psychological as well as electronic torture of thousands of innocent citizen victims known as targeted individuals. These people have done nothing and committed no crime to deserve this horrific and inhumane destruction of their lives. Thank you. Peace and love.
See, now I’m confused.. Anonymous wants to liberate the internet from oppressive infringement by shutting down extremist websites and disclosing information that uncovers lies from power’s highest peaks. I get that, and even respect that.. But trying to fight oppression by other means of oppression (“If Anonymous don’t agree with your activities, they’ll come for you”) is a paradox in its own right. Isn’t it both arrogant and hypocritical to claim the internet as one’s own domain, yet still to insist that the goal is liberation from oppression?
The Internet is not owned by anonymous. That’s a stupid statement. They are keeping us informed which is more than we can say for our government or would you rather be uninformed and oblivious
This is unrelated to your article but 30mins ago I was on another Anonymous site and I saw your post aboubt Putnin supplying Ukraine with tons of coal I think it said daily. I wanted to share it on my news feed but I was told by Facebook that I was FORBIDDEN TO SHARE THE PUTNIN POST FORBIDDEN . I WENT STRAIGHT BACK TO SITE AND THERE WAS JUST A BLANK SQUARE WHERE ARTICLE WAS. WELL OF COURSE I POSTED A POST ABOUBT THERE FUCKERY HALF EXPECTING TO HAVE IT REJECTED. YOU KNOW IT WAS LIKE A KICK IN THE TEETH THAT ONE WORD FORBIDDEN. SORRY MY CAPS LOCK STUCK. KEEP SAFE ANONYMOUS.
Everything you guys are saying is perfect! now why say it on a computer? tell people these things pass it on, change somebody’s way of thinking, help them see whats going on, be there teacher, help them see.
everyone is anonymous not just a group of people it is for people who stand up against the wall of silence and wake up to whats really going on to not believe a word that we see on tv or in the papers to go and find the answers are selves and to educate many of what they have found about the corruption the brutality of modern day life and the fact that WE ARE NOT FREE and cant say think or do what we want even thou we all have equal rights for example if we did act like the government we so much trust with are lifes and are kids lifes then dont you think we would be put in jail for organised crime