Twitter employees have been threatened by supporters of the Islamic State for banning accounts belonging to the terrorist group. The threat, which appeared on JustPast.it; a site that allows documents to be uploaded to the internet anonymously. It has also singled out Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey as the main culprit for the bans.
The story, which was first uncovered by BuzzFeed, featured an image of Dorsey with crosshairs superimposed over his face. A translation of the post indicated that the Islamic State is encouraging supporters to target Twitter employees after saying that “You’re the ones who started this lost war…,”
It is uncertain if the post was actually created by the Islamic State; TechCrunch has pointed out that Twitter is only one of many social media sites that ban posting from the terrorist organisation. Both Facebook and Youtube regularly policy accounts and delete Islamic State uploads. Mostly because these involve content that violates the terms of use, i.e. beheading videos.
However, it is likely that the micro-blogging site is being targeted because it is one of the main avenues of promotion and recruitment for the Islamic State. Supporters of the terrorists also use it to communicate with one another, not realising the irony in using a platform for free speech to call for the suppression of freedom.
Twitter is taking the threats very seriously, and are working with law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of its employees.
[Source: Buzzfeed, TechCrunch]
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