As ISIS steps up its inhumane acts of violence, several countries have stepped up their efforts to defeat this cruel group. ISIS has already angered Jordan and Egypt by releasing chilling footage of the group murdering Jordanians and Egyptians. A new group has climbed out of the wood-works to try and suppress ISIS. Hacking group Anonymous announced that they are currently targeting websites, Twitters, Facebook groups, and emails that support ISIS. ISIS has been known to attack US government websites all the way to the Church of Scientology. That being said, it is safe to say that Anonymous does not choose sides.
As of last week, Anonymous has shut down more than 800 Twitter accounts, 12 Facebook pages and over 50 email addresses because of their links with the terrorist group. ISIS is know to recruit volunteer fighters via social media and this is a primary reason as to why it is currently being targeted. Anonymous declared war against ISIS after the bloody attacks on Charlie Hebdo in which 12 people were murdered. The attack on Charlie Hebdo was seen as an attack against freedom of speech. Anonymous believes that this attack goes against what they are fighting for because freedom of speech is what hackers really believe in. Not just hackers but just about every person in the world.
Cyber warfare is becoming the future. By targeting the accounts that are linked to ISIS, Anonymous is helping lessen the group's presence on the internet. This is an important move because without its internet presence, ISIS will have difficulty recruiting new members. Although Twitter and Facebook should be doing a better job banning accounts that are linked to terrorist groups, its nice to know that there are some groups out there that are helping get rid of this scum of a group.
It is actually quite interesting that Anonymous has taken this route in attacking ISIS. Both groups rely heavily on their internet presence to recruit members. There are a lot of similarities in how they use social media so it'll be interesting watching the news on this going forward. One thing separates the groups - Anonymous uses social media to expose the truth and help those in need, ISIS uses social media to recruit volunteers and pose disturbing videos.
My first instinct to reading about Anonymous' actions against ISIS were "Go Anonymous." At the same time, I couldn't avoid why I also felt uneasy about their methods. Any opposition that doesn't result in more violence is what I would consider ideal, which Anonymous can achieve. However, the way Anonymous operates might not work out for the best due to the nature of the political tensions. This is all just conjecture by the way. ISIS might take these attacks as coming from the US government, an entity they already oppose. Anonymous in general doesn't operate with any constraints as the government might. This could lead to worsening tensions and hatred even further, which can be very dangerous and moves farther away from a solution. On the other hand, Anonymous might be able to have a substantial effect on ISIS and its operations that involve social media and the like since they aren't bounded by the constraints of any law per say. It's also hard to imagine ISIS becoming worse. By this I just mean that nothing seems to be too extreme for them. Cyber warfare has added yet another dimension to terrorist activity, and for the time being I'm encouraged that Anonymous and similar groups can provide a way to combat ISIS without furthering violence.
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