An alleged member of hacking group Anonymous took control ovr the website of Singapore's "The Straits Times" on Friday. The online activist who goes by the name The Messiah protested about an article published by journalist Irene Tham who has purportedly distorted the message of a video posted by the hacktivism group on YouTube. The hacked blog post was subsequently taken down by the publication.
The YouTube video (see below) protested the new licensing regulations of Singapore for news sites. The said video threatened that Anonymous will go to war against the Singaporean government but Tham's post allegedly made it sound that the group was declaring war against Singapore.
"Ireme Tham [sic], since you had the ignorant nerve of invading our world (the internet) to speak blasphemous lies, then we took it upon ourselves to invade your tiny little space to voice our issues over a few matter[s]. We sincerely hope you [won't] mind," said the hacker.
"Dear ST: You just got hacked for misleading the people," declared the hacker through the comments section of the deleted blog post.
"...the media has also misled our intentions by stating that we had plans to attack the infrastructure of Singapore on the 5th of November. That is ONLY our intention if the internet framework gets implemented. Not otherwise," the hacker posted.
The collective Anonymous is said to be calling for the apology and resignation of the Straits Times writer. The group also threatened that the newspaper will experience a bigger attack if these demands are not met.
The Media Development Authority of Singapore said earlier that websites that report on issues about Singapore receiving significant readership will need individual licenses.
In the video, the group threatened to attack the country's infrastructure on Tuesday November 5 if the new web framework is implemented. It also requested Singaporeans to dress in red and black on that day to show the government the "real emotion" of the people.
The Singapore Press Holdings, publisher of The Straits Times, said that it has filed a police report and is standing by its articles and reporters.
