Islamic State Friendica Accounts Taken Down, Supporters Call for Hacking Department

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.”