The founders and chief
executives of Facebook and Twitter have been threatened by a group with ties to
the militant Islamists that calls themselves Islamic State (ISIS).
Posting a 25-minute
roughly put-together video on social media site Telegram, a group calling
itself the "Sons of the Caliphate Army" vows to retaliate against
attempts by the social media companies to close accounts belonging to
supporters of ISIS.
The video was discovered
by analysts at media and tech company Vocativ in the deep web – the part of the
internet not accessible via standard search engines -- and shows images of
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, the head of Twitter, covered with
bullet holes at one point.
"To
Mark and Jack, founders of Twitter and Facebook and to their Crusader
government. You announce daily that you suspended many of our accounts and to
you we say: Is that all you can do?" the message on the video states, according to Vocativ.
The video message goes on to
threaten Zuckerberg and Dorsey stating: "You are not in our league. If you
close one account we will take 10 in return and soon your names will be erased
after we delete you (sic) sites, Allah willing."
ISIS is well-known for its sophisticated use of
social media to disseminate its ideology, making it a key target for
authorities looking to combat the group and its influence. In the video, the
hackers claim they control more than 10,000 Facebook accounts, 150 Facebook
groups and 5,000 Twitter profiles.
Earlier this month Twitter said in a blog that it
had suspended 125,000 accounts "for threatening or promoting terrorist
acts, primarily related to ISIS." Likewise, Vocativ noted that
Facebook has said that it works to ensure that terrorists don't use the site
and removes content supporting terrorism.
Commenting on the video, Twitter told The Guardian Newspaper
on Wednesday that threats against Dorsey were now so common they wouldn't be
releasing any official response. "It just happens all the time,"
a spokesman said, the paper reported. Facebook has not commented on the video.
WATCH
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