Leading UK news house Daily mail reports
that Anonymous’ “war”
on Isis is leading to innocent people being wrongly
reported as members of the militant group.The 'hacktivist'
network launched an operation to identify and shut down the accounts of
Islamic extremists in the wake of the attacks in Paris, but people who are not
affiliated to Isis appear to have been identified as part of the
group, according to reports on social media.
At least one person identified was
correctly identified as part of the operation. But the
Anonymous-affiliated user who first reported his identity has reversed the
claim, after criticism that details being shared on Twitter was incorrect and
that the person identified was not involved with the group.
@AhmedHuzeyfe @orovodj I am incredibly angry at
myself for letting this happen and I am willing to do whatever is neccessary to
defend him
— JhonJoe (@OfficialJhonJoe) November 17,
2015
The site claims it has found and shut
down more than 5,500 Isis Twitter accounts. In line with previous operations —
including one launched in the wake of Charlie Hebdo — the group is largely
working to find accounts on Twitter and then have them suspended by reporting
them to the network.Anonymous has previously appeared to have problems with its
verification processes, including in a recent high-profile operation against
the Ku Klux Klan. Activists affiliated with Anonymous leaked a supposed list of
members of the group, but many of the identities on there appeared not to
be genuine.
People affiliated with the group also
wrongly identified a person that it claimed was the police officer who killed
Michael Brown in Ferguson. It had, in fact, named another police officer
who didn’t work as part of the local force, and his family were reportedly
forced into hiding.
A person who claims to be behind the
Operation Paris account told the BBC that those involved in the operation “run
effective verification of intel (intelligence), and make sure that our leads
are legitimate before we attack them”.
“In some cases, they could be
sympathisers or followers that republish horrifying display,” the man, whose
name is unknown, said.
“We guarantee that we are not making
false accusations to those who aren't actually involved.”
The group has also drawn criticism from
other hacktivists. The Jester, an anonymous online hacker, said the group’s
efforts were unlikely to amount to much.
"It's the usual case of Anonymous
jumping on a current big news story," he told Tech Insider.
"It'll amount to a hill of beans
like always."
The Jester has taken on those behind the
“OpParis” Twitter account, which has served as a repository and broadcast
platform for much of the information about suspected extremists that is being
shared.
@opparisofficial Little
late now isn't it? Media praising u for naming these ppl as ISIS & ur like,
well actually only 'some' *might* be.
The Jester claimed the original
video was likely uploaded as a stunt in itself, and that the group was forced
to try and make an impact on Twitter as a way of backing up the claims in the
video.
The hacker has also claimed in the past
that Anonymous itself has been used by Isis and other terror movements as a way
of furthering their reach online.
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