Hackers Say Twitter Isn’t Telling the Whole Story About Anti-Terror Fight

Activists opposing ISIS find their Twitter accounts suspended

ISIS terrorists parade down a street in Raqqa, Syria, on Jan. 14, 2014. ISIS Website via AP

Online activists have added fuel to the controversy over the effectiveness of Twitter’s attempts to fight ISIS supporters who use its services to spread terrorist propaganda and recruit new members.

While Twitter said it is making strong efforts to shut down terrorist accounts, activists said that not only is the microblogging company not taking down the accounts that matter, but it has even been shutting down accounts of users trying to report terrorists.

In January, a Florida woman, Tamara Fields, filed a lawsuit against Twitter, alleging that it breached the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act by “spreading extremist propaganda,” which caused an attack in Jordan that killed her husband, a private contractor, Lloyd “Carl” Fields Jr.

Facing bad press and a lawsuit, Twitter published a blog post on Feb. 5, stating that since mid-2015 it has suspended 125,000 accounts for “threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS.”

Members of the online anti-terrorist community were quick to fire back, however. They said that Twitter is taking credit for their work, and there are still many holes in its efforts to keep terrorist recruiters off its services.

Several hacker groups, including Anonymous, have rallied against ISIS under an online campaign they call #OpISIS. While most participants keep their identities hidden, most of their activities are public. They often publish lists of ISIS supporters and recruiters, and call on the community to report the accounts.

Through this campaign, Anonymous claims by Nov. 23, 2015, to have taken down more than 11,000 Twitter accounts linked to ISIS, according to a tweet from OpParisOfficial. GhostSec, another hacker group, claims it has reported 19,568 Twitter accounts promoting terrorism.

Who suspended 125,000 accounts? Anonymous, Anonymous affiliated groups, and everyday citizens.

— WauchulaGhost