The Syrian Electronic Army has seized control of Twitter accounts belonging to the Onion, the Guardian, the Associated Press, NBC News, NPR and the BBC, bringing their often unpopular perspective of Syria’s civil war to millions of readers worldwide.

But who are the individuals that make up the Syrian Electronic Army? Are they simply regime lackeys tasked with embarrassing the western press or independent hackers with an agenda of their own? 

GlobalPost: Would you mind giving me as much information about yourself as you can – online handles, etc? Also, would you mind tweeting or posting “Interview with GP” or something to that effect from an account associated with you or the SEA to confirm your identity? If you could, please send me a quick email. Feel free to delete once I get a screenshot.

Screenshot 

Rebel hackers claim that the SEA is giving the locations of activists and fighters to the Syrian Military who then find them and kill them. Is that true?

Syrian Electronic Army Representative: We don't have the man power or resources to find the location of any terrorist to aid the military, nor do we have the necessary connections for that matter. These rumors are generated constantly to undermine and demonise the Syrian Electronic Army, but they've proven ineffectual.

I reported recently that the SEA was winning the cyberwar for Syria. Are you facing any resistance at all online from rebel hackers? What are their capabilities?

The only resistance we are facing are DDoSing attempts by some misguided factions of Anonymous. Generally, the tide has turned and most of the public is aware of the truth behind the war in Syria. As such, the government infiltrators inside Anonymous are finding fewer and fewer recruits to carry out these pointless attacks. Our website and social media presence has only faced dangers from the US regime, pushing Facebook and Twitter to shut them down constantly and our domain provider to shut our website down. When this happens, we simply create another account or domain. If anything, these US regime-led attacks proves their conspiracy against us.

Factions within the global hacker collective Anonymous are preparing to launch a digital campaign in support of the Rohingya – Myanmar’s Muslim minority – who potentially face what a Human Rights Watch report last month classified as “ethnic cleansing.”

“Currently we are keeping an eye on the situation making sure the... violence against the Rohingya does [not] spin into another massacre again,” one of the managers of the Anonymous-aligned Twitter account, @CIApressoffice, told GlobalPost. “Our targets will include those who turn a blind eye or actively allow this tyranny to continue.”

More than just a group of hackers in search of lulz and glory, those involved in OpRohingya are taking their cues from Rohingya community leaders on the ground, who relay reports to Anonymous through established internet activists such as Heather Marsh.

Some activists involved in the operation want to push up the June launch date as crackdowns force Rohingya community leaders further underground.

“What we do know is, yes, the Rohingya are asking for assistance and an end to the violence being bestowed upon them and their children,” the @CIApressoffice contributor told GlobalPost.

Prominent netizens and supporters of Anonymous organized a Twitter storm in March to raise awareness about violence against Rohingya communities and to pressure Myanmar’s government to protect those facing harm and displacement. 

Hackers from the pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) took control of several CBS News Twitter accounts over the weekend, including accounts belonging to 60 Minutes, 48 hours and CBS Denver.

The hack on Sunday was the second attack launched by the Syrian Electronic Army against CBS News social media accounts.

The Syrian Electronic Army has targeted a number of Western news agencies and organizations, including NPR, the BBC and Human Rights Watch, to spread their message of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They also criticize Western media organizations for having an anti-Assad bias. 

“The US government is sponsoring a coup in Venezuela and a terrorist war in Syria,” read one tweet from the hacked 60 Minutes Twitter account. 

Hackers from the Anonymous collective have joined with activists in Gabon to protest ritual killings in the small West African nation by launching distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against a large number of Gabonese websites.

Several of the websites targeted include Gabonese President Ali Bongo’s personal site, the Gabonese Department of Defense and the Gabonese Department of Justice.

Human body parts are sought after by some in Gabon, including politicians and members of government, for their supposed supernatural powers, according to activists.