To defend the lives that were lost, over 200 twitter accounts belonging to ISIS supporters were accessed by hacker WauchulaGhost, and their extremist messages were replaced with links to gay porn and pro-LGBT content.
Social media platforms have been used by ISIS as a tool for recruitment and to spread propaganda. Most of the accounts accessed operate out of Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
WauchulaGhost is an online moniker used by a hacker affiliated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous. After the Orlando shooting on June 13, WauchulaGhost along with hackers Ebony and Yeti took to replacing the extremist messages as a sign of protest against the shooting.
The hacker tells Newsweek, "I did it for the lives lost in Orlando. 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. 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."
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The Jihadi extremist messages were replaced with messages like "I'm gay and proud" and "Out and proud". As their purpose was not to offend Muslims and were only directed at Jihadist extremists, no explicit images were posted.
Though many of the posts have since been taken down by Twitter, the group plans to continue the campaign, said a Scroll.in report.
Remaining anonymous, all he says is that he is based in the United States and that "shit is getting too close to home."
-prepared by Ajay Krishna an intern at NewsGram. Twitter: @ajkrish14
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