"Belgian judiciary and Europol attack ISIS' 'press agency'"

Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, and the Belgian judiciary have hacked several accounts affiliated to ISIS. Dr Joas Wagemakers (Religious Studies) was invited to discuss the hack on Dutch radio show NOS Met het Oog Op Morgen on 25 November.

One of the targets was Amaq, which serves a similar function as a press agency of ISIS. Wagemakers explains that Amaq is not an official channel of ISIS, but that it publishes a lot on the terrorist organisation. Their articles are mainly circulated through social media. The messaging app Telegram plays an important role in this.

Deactivated

Europol has deactivated many of these social media accounts, so that the articles can be shared less easily. "This is a blow for Amaq, but many of the accounts will become active again in the long term", Wagemakers thinks.