It’s been an especially heartbreaking week for LGBT communities worldwide after the Daesh-claimed murder last Sunday morning of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Well-known hacktivist collective Anonymous struck back at Daesh with the type of brilliantly petty and ironic humor that’s mattered so much in the fight against the extremist group’s self-styled dark image – namely, the hackers infiltrated Daesh-affiliated Twitter accounts and gave them fabulously gay makeovers.
Hackers replaced Daesh flags and imagery en masse with pro-LGBT rainbow flags and slogans, including banners proclaiming “I’m gay and I’m proud.”
#DaeshBag in #Saudi @zxmgklb #RxpectUs #OpDaesh #Anonymous #GhostOfNONation pic.twitter.com/lQQv1VLkxh
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) June 15, 2016
#DaeshBag in #Iraq. @bvbchhxh #DaeshLove ;) #Orlando #OpDaesh #Anonymous #GhostOfNoNation pic.twitter.com/u1CNu9DdOv
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) June 18, 2016
Seems they're opening up. @klnugggh2, new account/previous cust ;) IP in Image. #OpDaesh #Anonymous #GhostOfNoNation pic.twitter.com/MIvuZh5Cae
— WauchulaGhost (@WauchulaGhost) June 18, 2016
Since launching the campaign, one of the main hackers behind the makeovers – known by his Twitter handle WauchulaGhost – says he’s been getting death threats. “They send me beheading pictures all the time and tell me I’m next,” he told USA Today.
Anonymous has waged an online feud with Daesh since 2015, when one of its offshoots named Ghost Security began targetting pro-Daesh websites and social media accounts.
