Islamic State (IS) media accounts on the new Friendica social media platform were taken down over the weekend in what IS supporters have interpreted as a cyber-attack. This comes only three days after SITE Intel Director Rita Katz reported on and analyzed the group’s temporary migration to the site.
The pages of the al-'Itisaam Foundation, al-Hayat Media Center, and the Ajnad Foundation have been labeled as unavailable by the site, with the only remaining text first reading in English:
Islamic State not welcome on friendica.eu, congratulations to Bashar al-Assad on his reelection as President of Syria
However, as of July 20, the pages contains a shortened version of the message, reading, “Islamic State not welcome on friendica.eu.”
Members of the pro-IS al-Minbar Jihadi Media forum reacted to the take-down with vehemence in an Arabic discussion titled, “URGENT :: Hacking of the al-'Itisaam Foundation Account.” User “Siyad” called for IS to declare a “Department of Hacking and Protection” to prepare and respond to such cyber-attacks, to which another other user agreed. “Siyad” stated that “many people have the experience” needed to form such a department, and offered his or her own alleged skills used in the “Gaza Hacker Team.”
