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| Activist Links More Than 26,000 Twitter Accounts to ISIS | Activist Links More Than 26,000 Twitter Accounts to ISIS |
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| A cybersecurity activist who recently helped publicize 9,200 Twitter accounts that were said to be linked to the Islamic State released a roster of 26,382 accounts on Tuesday, the biggest such list yet. | A cybersecurity activist who recently helped publicize 9,200 Twitter accounts that were said to be linked to the Islamic State released a roster of 26,382 accounts on Tuesday, the biggest such list yet. |
| But the new list distributed by the activist, who goes by the Twitter name XRSone, appeared to be far from flawless. | But the new list distributed by the activist, who goes by the Twitter name XRSone, appeared to be far from flawless. |
| It misidentified Al Jazeera’s popular Arabic-language Twitter account as suspect, for example. Also erroneously listed, among others, were Zaid Benjamin, a Washington-based journalist with 82,300 followers who works for Radio Sawa, an Arabic-language broadcaster partly funded by the United States, and Yousef Munayyer, a prominent Palestinian rights advocate based in Washington, with 23,400 followers. | It misidentified Al Jazeera’s popular Arabic-language Twitter account as suspect, for example. Also erroneously listed, among others, were Zaid Benjamin, a Washington-based journalist with 82,300 followers who works for Radio Sawa, an Arabic-language broadcaster partly funded by the United States, and Yousef Munayyer, a prominent Palestinian rights advocate based in Washington, with 23,400 followers. |
| But XRSone said he believed that the list still “has a high accuracy,” and that his intent was to show that more could be done to expunge Islamic State supporters from Twitter, where by some estimates they have registered as many as 90,000 accounts. | But XRSone said he believed that the list still “has a high accuracy,” and that his intent was to show that more could be done to expunge Islamic State supporters from Twitter, where by some estimates they have registered as many as 90,000 accounts. |
| The release of the list was part of a loosely organized effort by online opponents of the Islamic State, including well-known hacking groups like Anonymous as well as individuals, to expose what they call the Islamic State’s brazen exploitation of Twitter for spreading its propaganda. | The release of the list was part of a loosely organized effort by online opponents of the Islamic State, including well-known hacking groups like Anonymous as well as individuals, to expose what they call the Islamic State’s brazen exploitation of Twitter for spreading its propaganda. |
| The Islamic State — also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh — has used Twitter to glorify beheadings, immolations and enslavement of enemies, pillaging of artifacts, and threats to foes of the group’s self-described caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. | The Islamic State — also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh — has used Twitter to glorify beheadings, immolations and enslavement of enemies, pillaging of artifacts, and threats to foes of the group’s self-described caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. |
| “Look through these accounts, you will see complete disregard for human life,” the activist wrote in a blog post, titled “Social Media War Machine,” that included an embedded link to the list. | “Look through these accounts, you will see complete disregard for human life,” the activist wrote in a blog post, titled “Social Media War Machine,” that included an embedded link to the list. |
| Anti-ISIS hackers and other online activists have been encouraging Twitter users to report suspected ISIS accounts to Twitter’s violations department in order to have them suspended. | Anti-ISIS hackers and other online activists have been encouraging Twitter users to report suspected ISIS accounts to Twitter’s violations department in order to have them suspended. |
| Twitter, which forbids the promotion of violence and threats, says that it reviews all reported violations, a position it repeated Tuesday through a spokesman in response to the new list. | Twitter, which forbids the promotion of violence and threats, says that it reviews all reported violations, a position it repeated Tuesday through a spokesman in response to the new list. |
| But Twitter does not do its own preventive policing or scrubbing of accounts, adhering to a free-speech policy that has aroused considerable criticism in the face of the Islamic State’s extensive use of its network, which carries roughly 500 million messages a day in multiple languages. | But Twitter does not do its own preventive policing or scrubbing of accounts, adhering to a free-speech policy that has aroused considerable criticism in the face of the Islamic State’s extensive use of its network, which carries roughly 500 million messages a day in multiple languages. |
| In telephone and email exchanges, XRSone, who spoke on condition that his real name not be used because of death threats, said the new list contained roughly 10,000 active accounts and more than 15,000 that had been suspended. | In telephone and email exchanges, XRSone, who spoke on condition that his real name not be used because of death threats, said the new list contained roughly 10,000 active accounts and more than 15,000 that had been suspended. |
| He said the list, derived by a computer program that tracks account information including creation date, number of followers and language used, “scrapes these names all on its own.” | He said the list, derived by a computer program that tracks account information including creation date, number of followers and language used, “scrapes these names all on its own.” |
| He conceded that the list may contain “false positives” like the Al Jazeera Arabic account, which has nearly 4.6 million followers, but contended that such instances were the exception. | He conceded that the list may contain “false positives” like the Al Jazeera Arabic account, which has nearly 4.6 million followers, but contended that such instances were the exception. |
| He said that while the list has a high degree of accuracy, “it is a computer powered tool with a lack of discretion for each individual account,” he said. | He said that while the list has a high degree of accuracy, “it is a computer powered tool with a lack of discretion for each individual account,” he said. |
| The program also checks Twitter for one-letter or one-number variants of defunct accounts, the activist said, which he called a common strategy by Islamic State users to rejoin Twitter if their accounts had been suspended. | The program also checks Twitter for one-letter or one-number variants of defunct accounts, the activist said, which he called a common strategy by Islamic State users to rejoin Twitter if their accounts had been suspended. |
| XRSone contended the program showed that Twitter’s “suspension policy isn’t really effective — the problem never improves.” | |
| Experts on the Islamic State’s online presence had differing reactions to the new list. Some saw such an effort as potentially rife with inaccuracies, while others called it an understandable reflection of a growing online backlash against impunity for the Islamic State. | Experts on the Islamic State’s online presence had differing reactions to the new list. Some saw such an effort as potentially rife with inaccuracies, while others called it an understandable reflection of a growing online backlash against impunity for the Islamic State. |
| “The public’s interest in counterterrorism efforts is to be encouraged, and these efforts increasingly involve monitoring and thwarting the exploitations of social media platforms by terrorist groups like the Islamic State,” said Michael S. Smith II, principal and chief operating officer of Kronos Advisory, a security consulting firm. | “The public’s interest in counterterrorism efforts is to be encouraged, and these efforts increasingly involve monitoring and thwarting the exploitations of social media platforms by terrorist groups like the Islamic State,” said Michael S. Smith II, principal and chief operating officer of Kronos Advisory, a security consulting firm. |
| J.M. Berger, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-author of a study on the Islamic State’s use of Twitter published on March 5, expressed skepticism about the methodologies used for creating such lists. “These things are not always as advertised,” he said. | J.M. Berger, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-author of a study on the Islamic State’s use of Twitter published on March 5, expressed skepticism about the methodologies used for creating such lists. “These things are not always as advertised,” he said. |