members disown Facebook threats ‘Anonymous’

Days after threats by purported members of the Anonymous hacking ring to attack Facebook, other members of the group disowned the planned cyberattack.

“We absolutely disown #OpFacebook,” said a tweet on the account @AnonyOps, which has been used in the past for numerous Anonymous communiques. “We’re supposed to fight for the users, not against them. Don’t violate private citizen privacy please.” The disavowal followed the posting of a YouTube clip in which someone who claimed to be speaking in the name of Anonymous promised to attack Facebook on November 5 to in protest the site’s controversial privacy policies.

“Kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy,” the speaker on the video urged, claiming that the site had cooperated with authorities in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere to identify anti—government activists.

Speaking in an electronically scrambled voice in the two—minute video, the spokesperson blasted Facebook for storing users’ personal information even after they delete their accounts. “Facebook knows more about you than your family,” said the spokesperson.

The video anticipated the expected backlash by millions of Facebook users against the planned disruption. “One day you will look back on this and realize what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you,” it said.

Researchers initially doubted that the video was a bona—fide Anonymous message because it veers from the group’s usual methods of communications, which utilize Twitter and an online blog. But the group reacted by linking to the video through its Twitter account.

Bloggers who closely follow the chat channels used by members of the hacker collective said the competing messages revealed a rift between veteran leaders of Anonymous and rogue elements who had joined more recently.