Anonymous says it will shut down jihadist websites to avenge Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks

Hacker group Anonymous has sent a message to "al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists" in a video condemning attack on Charlie Hebdo. The statement was released on Twitter with the video uploaded in French to a file-sharing site called Pastebint after eight journalists and twelve people in total were murdered in Paris. The group released a video in French on YouTube. In a voice that has been digitally altered, the male reader says, "We are declaring war against you, the terrorists" and vowed to close accounts on social networks linked to terrorists. He wore the group's symbolic Guy Fawkes mask and was seated in front of a desk with the hashtag #OpCharlieHebdo - which stands for Operation Charlie Hebdo. RELATED CONTENT Terrorist attack in UK is 'highly likely' warns Home Secretary Theresa May Teenage rapist used Facebook to groom and abuse young girls in Lincolnshire The message from the group vowed to fight for the "inviolate and sacred right to express opinions in any way" and said those who opposed freedom of expression can expect "a massive frontal assault from us, because the struggle for the defense of these freedoms is the foundation of our movement." In the clip, a figure mask is seated in front of a desk with the hashtag #OpCharlieHebdo - which stands for Operation Charlie Hebdo - featured on screen. They add that the group will track down and close all accounts on social networks related to terrorists in order to avenge those who have been killed. The hacker collective offered their condolences to "the families of the victims of this cowardly and despicable act". They write "freedom of expression has suffered inhuman assault ... and it is our duty to react". Anonymous are a group comprised of activists and hackers who claim to defend and protect democracy. There is no one Anonymous group but rather several individuals and groups who make statements and take action under the broad umbrella of the name. In general, the decentralised collection of Internet-savvy activists believe in freedom and an end to censorship. In the past the group have carried out cyber attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks which attempt to overwhelm an online service with traffic from numerous sources so that users can no longer access it.