Several Twitter accounts of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants and supporters were hijacked and supplanted with gay pride banners and links to porn sites as a vengeance for the Orlando shooting that killed 50 people and injured 53 others on Sunday morning.
READ: Hacking group Anonymous takes down ISIS, social media accounts
According to reports from tech news site The Next Web and Newsweek, hackers linked to global hacktivist network Anonymous replaced the pro-ISIS Twitter accounts with “I’m Gay and I’m Proud” and “Out and Proud” photos and rainbow banners, a symbol associated with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) struggle.
#DaeshBag in #Oman. @islamsunna111. IP’s in Image. Make Love, Not War. #ISIS #OpDaesh #Anonymous #GhostOfNoNation pic.twitter.com/W1JuK8H0ti
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) June 15, 2016
The vigilante hackers replaced militant messages with links leading to same-sex pornography sites pinned on their profiles. A hacker with the moniker WauchulaGhost started hacking the accounts months ago. Together with hackers Ebony and Yeti, they amassed over 200 accounts belonging to ISIS supporters in the wake of the mass rampage. Reversely, most of the accounts were taken down by Twitter as part of the plan to expunge online terrorism and propaganda.
Please take a moment & pray for the Families & Victims of the #Orlando Attack. #OpDaesh #Anonymous #GhostOfNoNation pic.twitter.com/zZLLDlKwvE
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) June 12, 2016
In an interview with Newsweek,WauchulaGhost clarified that gay porn site links were not inserted to offend Islamic beliefs.
“I did it for the lives lost in Orlando,” the astute hacker asserted to Newsweek. “Daesh [ISIS] have been spreading and praising the attack, so I thought I would defend those that were lost. The taking of innocent lives will not be tolerated.”
“One thing I do want to say is we aren’t using graphic porn and our purpose is not to offend Muslims. Our actions are directed at Jihadist extremists. Many of our own [group of hackers] are Muslim and we respect all religions that do not take innocent lives.” the hacker concluded.
In 2015, Twitter has shut down 125,000 accounts advocating for heinous and bloody extremism. Gianna Francesca Catolico
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