"In the last few months we've had literally dozens of accounts suspended," a member of Anonymous told RT. "My account went down without notification. I never received an e-mail or anything from Twitter. And about two hours later it came back."
"We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism and the Twitter Rules make it clear that this type of behavior, or any violent threat, is not permitted on our service," Public Policy and Communications manager Ian Plunkett said in an official response.
Why are you gonna shut down people helping stop terrorism? That just seems ridiculous. #wtf https://t.co/rNj0pttpOc
— Julie (@Lexxine1) 7 Март 2016
okay, now i'm wondering how @twitter could come to the decision of shutting down @umm_bratwurst who has done nothing but hunting isis ever
— CtrlSec (@CtrlSec) 25 февраля 2016
This is hardly what hacktivists wanted to hear.
Don't forget, #TrollISIS starts this Friday, Get those memes ready #DaeshBags #Anonymous #OpISIS #GhostOfNoNation pic.twitter.com/blTXZAtCuY
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) 8 Март 2016
Twitter user WauchulaGhost credited Anonymous members, groups affiliated with the collective and other users – and not Twitter's team – with suspending 125,000 accounts, which spread Daesh-related propaganda.
"You do realize if we all stopped reporting terrorist accounts and graphic images, Twitter would be FLOODED with terrorists," WauchulaGhost observed in a message to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. The user also urged the social network to stop suspending accounts that take part in #OpISIS, an initiative aimed at identifying and removing accounts affiliated with Daesh.
Who Suspended 125,000 Twitter accounts? #OpISIS #Anonymous #GhostOfNoNation https://t.co/BR44Ie1mP6 pic.twitter.com/kIa8mabJQd
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) 16 февраля 2016
The hacktivist, who spoke to RT, confirmed that the #OpISIS efforts have paid off.
"Literally thousands of accounts are going down. It used to be that the accounts were coming right back. I can see now that in the end more accounts aren't coming back, and we are actually slowing them down. The size of the accounts has shrunken, and I think they are losing grip on what they are doing," he said.
Daesh has succeeded in using social media platforms, including Twitter, for its purposes, spreading slick images, professionally edited videos and catchy slogans to expand their support base. In response, Anonymous launched #OpISIS.
