This article was published on December 10, 2015

Anonymous asks the Web for help in its faltering fight with ISIS


Anonymous asks the Web for help in its faltering fight with ISIS

A few weeks ago, Anonymous announced its ‘total war’ on the Islamic State. But its mission hasn’t been going particularly well.

When the group sent a list of alleged IS-affiliated accounts on Twitter to the social network they were so “wildly inaccurate” that Anonymous’ efforts in that area are being ignored.

“We don’t review anonymous lists posted online, but third party reviews have found them to be wildly inaccurate and full of academics and journalists.”

So, in a recent announcement on Ghostbin, the hacktivist group is asking the Web community at large to help troll the Islamic State for a day on December 11.

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“You may be wondering why we are “trolling” Isis and planning all these demonstrations against Isis. But to understand that you must first see how Isis works.”

“They thrive off of fear they hope that by their actions they can silence all of us and get us to just lay low and hide in fear,” said the message.”

The post breaks down specific ways people can contribute. The main thrust of the attack appears to be via the hashtags #Daesh – a derogatory term used in Iraq and the Middle East – and #Daeshbags –you can probably guess what that one is.

People have been advised to “make mocking videos of Isis” on YouTube and even, “Print out photos that mock Isis and spread them around your city”. The call-to-action does add a note of caution that people may misinterpret the images as supporting instead of mocking.

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A series of meet up locations have also been supplied across North America and Europe.

As we’ve reported before, the veracity of these posts  and whether they speak for the amorphous group as a whole is difficult to prove.

If true, it does suggest a change of tactic for the group who seem determined to inflict some damage on the Islamic State’s digital presence, even if it’s just symbolic.

Anonymous reveals the next phase in its cyber war with ISIS [BGR]

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