Supporters of the Syrian regime allegedly hacked the social media accounts of an Al Jazeera English program on Thursday and posted pro-Assad messages and links.
“The Stream’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were compromised, and we resolved the issue,” Al Jazeera told TPM in a statement. “The Stream” is a multi-platform TV news show that uses social media to produce content. Some of the alleged hacker-backed tweets on Thursday included: “Aljazeera: Fabricating another child martyr,” “What exactly is SFA?” and “Do The Guardian editors know they are participating in violence in Syria?”
By Thursday afternoon, the tweets were deleted, and the program’s account acknowledged the issue:
Our account was compromised and we’ve resolved the issue. Thanks for your patience and we look forward to your tweets for today’s show.
— The Stream (@AJStream) July 5, 2012
The Associated Press, which first reported on the compromised account, says that one of the messages claimed to be from the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that has launched web attacks on groups sympathetic to the country’s popular uprising.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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