In its latest move against ISIS, hacktivist group Anonymous is asking its supporters to take part in a “trolling day” against the group. The call to action is part of the collective's 'Operation ISIS' campaign, which was launched after the Paris attacks.
Anonymous is calling on internet users to mock Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) by posting satirical memes and pictures of its dead members on December 11 using the hashtags #Daesh and #Daeshbags.
Anonymous says the “trolling day” is aimed at working against the “fear” spread by IS.
“They thrive off of fear...they hope that by their actions they can silence all of us and get us to just lay low and hide in fear. But what many forget, and even they do, is that there are many more people in the world against them than for them,” the group wrote online.
The collective added that “on December 11th we will show them that we are not afraid, we will not just hide in our fear, we are the majority and with our strength in numbers we can make a real difference. We will mock them for the idiots they are.”
Supporters of the group have posted recommendations for taking part online. Those suggestions include “openly call[ing] them Daesh” – an acronym for the group's Arabic name, Dawlat al-Islamiyah f'al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham. The militant group hates the name so much they have reportedly threatened to cut off the tongue of anyone who uses it.
Another recommendation included “spread[ing] photos of dead/captured Isis members.”
But the group is also asking that the “trolling day” extend from the virtual world to the real world, and will be holding meetings in various locations including New York, London, and Paris. People have been told to “make stickers of mocking photos and put [them] around your town” and “print out pages showing how Isis does not represent Islam.”
The plan is part of the group's 'Operation ISIS,' which was launched shortly after the November 13 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead and 352 others injured.
As part of the campaign, Anonymous has so far disabled the social media accounts of IS supporters, leaked their information, and even replaced an IS-supporting website with a Viagra ad and a message to “calm down.” The collective has also used images of goats and rubber ducks to taunt IS online.