They use screen aliases like IS Hunting Club, TouchMyTweets and The Doctor. They troll Twitter for suspected accounts of ISIS fighters, recruiters and fund-raisers. Then they pounce.
USA News In what has become a cyber analogy to the battles in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere between governments and the ISIS, online vigilantes, some of them with diverse agenda, have united in a common cause to subvert the militant group's aggressive use of social media, particularly Twitter.
They expose suspect accounts that they post on blacklists via Twitter, and encourage others to report the accounts to the social media network's violations department.
"Basically our work not only cripples their ability to spread propaganda, but also wastes their time," said a Twitter vigilante who goes by the screen name The Doctor.
"I do this because the atrocities I see from these ISIS scum on a daily basis enrage me," said a user who identified herself as TouchMyTweets and continued, "This is my airstrike."
A loosely organized effort by computer hacking collectives aimed at disrupting the ISIS and other violent jihadist causes began last year after the extremists posted images of beheaded captives. It gained momentum after the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris in January, according to experts who study online jihadists.
People working on behalf of the ISIS have taken countermeasures like distributing lists of hackers to help avoid detection and urging followers to change account names if they suspect an impending complaint. Twitter's general counsel, Vijaya Gadde, responded in a letter, saying the company had expanded its mechanisms for terminating accounts that violate its rules.
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