The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Twitter flooded with photos of kittens in support of manhunt for terror suspect

By
November 22, 2015 at 7:35 p.m. EST
Police officer and soldiers on security duty inside Galerie de la Reine following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels on Nov. 22. (Stephanie LeCocq/European Pressphoto Agency)

On Sunday evening, news of a police operation in Brussels quickly spread on Twitter as eyewitnesses and journalists shared photos and observations. However, they soon realized that their Tweets might endanger the lives of police officers when Belgian authorities asked social media users to stop sharing details.

So in an attempt to confuse anyone trying to find details of police movements on Twitter, users started posting photos of kittens. "After Belgian police asked residents not to share details of the #BrusselsLockdown via social media, civilians took over the hashtag and flooded it with pictures of their feline friends," Twitter said, summarizing the bizarre development on its dedicated "Moments" page.

Most Tweets appeared to be aimed at making it harder to find details about the operations.

Photos of kittens continued to be posted even after the raids ended. In a news conference after midnight local time, authorities said they had made 16 arrests in the operation in Brussels. Fugitive Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam, however, was not among them, Belgian prosecutors said.

Also read: 

Brussels on alert for second day as Europe faces continued terror threat

There’s a booming black market for fake Syrian passports

In Paris’s 11th arrondissement, joie de vivre became the target