Anonymous hits ISIS with music video links featuring Risk Astley
25 Nov 2015
Hacktivist group Anonymous, in its stepped up war on ISIS, is using a pop music video featuring 80s star Risk Astley. Anonymous is flooding the terror group's social media accounts with links to Astley's 1987 hit song Never Gonna Give You Up as they seek to divert the killers from their stated goal of global jihad.
The trick called 'Rickrolling' was an internet meme in 2007 involving posting a hyperlink with seeming relevance to the topic at hand - in this case global jihad but which actually led to Astley's video.
It is said to be the first time a short-lived meme of 80s pop star was being used as a weapon in the war on terror.
Following the terror attack in Paris that left 130 dead, Anonymous declared war on ISIS.
Hackers set up #OpISIS, which was being used to help alert social media giants like Twitter to accounts promoting terror acts and using social networks to recruit members.
Anonymous posted a video on YouTube, saying it would use its knowledge to "unite humanity" and warned the terrorists to "expect us".
Anonymous hopes it would make it harder for users to access genuine ISIS information with the deluge of 80s synth-pop, which would hinder their goals to participate in the terrorist death-cult.
Experts had warned that among ISIS's more deadly weapons was their well-honed social media strategy, which helped it communicate with sympathisers the world over.
Impressionable supporters had been persuaded to leave their home and families for the war-torn Middle East after instructions were given by ISIS operatives. They followed ISIS instructions on smuggling themselves over the borders into Syria or Iraq.
Anonymous had also launched a campaign to have extremist Twitter accounts shut down, and claimed that over 28,000 ISIS accounts were now offline.
In a statement on its overall #OpParis campaign, Anonymous said: 'Hello, citizens of the world. We are Anonymous. It is time to realize that social media is a solid platform for ISIS's communication as well as neutering their ideas of terror amongst youth.
'However, at the same time, social media has proved it is an advanced weapon. We must all work together and use social media to eliminate the accounts used by terrorists. ISIS, we will hunt you and take down your sites, accounts, emails and expose you.
'From now on, there is no safe place for you online. You will be treated like a virus, and we are the cure.'
