Screen shot of hacked English language site of Eleven Media
Mere days after a journalist for Eleven Media was lambasted by President Thein Sein’s top economic adviser for ‘declaring jihad’ on the government in an article about the economy, the news outlet’s site has been hacked and replaced with language similar to the original accusation and a link to the journalist’s Facebook page.
Hmmm, could any of this be a coincidence? Of course not!
Economic adviser U Myint’s April 4 “Open Letter” to journalist Nay Htun Naing was a table-pounding lecture about the improper use of the English language and everything else that was wrong with an article about recession in Myanmar that appeared a few days earlier.
Its most famous sentence accused Nay Htun Naing of launching a holy war against various parties and people.
“I also note with considerable interest that you have declared jihad on President U Thein Sein, his government, his advisers, the Hluttaw [Parliament] and the opposition.”
The hacked page, which appeared only for the English version of the website, bears the recognizable stamp of hacktivist group Anonymous, but with local references thrown into the mix.
“Defeat Media Jihad” it blares, under the Eleven Media logo and text that reads “No. 1 Unethical Media in Myanmar.”
On the right side of the page is a Facebook icon that leads directly to Nay Htun Naing’s page.
Media sites are often hacked in Myanmar, with Eleven and Mizzima (which also wasn’t opening on Wednesday), frequent targets.
Nay Htun Naing did not respond to a request for comment. Contact information for U Myint was not available. Eleven Media has posted a response to the Open Letter, which the hack makes unavailable.
UPDATE: Both Mizzima and Eleven are back up and running. Here is Mizzima’s reply.
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