Swastikas Splashed Across Twitter By Hackers
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Pro-Turkish government hackers broke into prominent Twitter accounts Wednesday and used them to fire off swastikas in a campaign to smear Germany and Holland. Amnesty International, BBC North America and Justin Bieber’s Japan account were among the slew of hacked users.
The British magazine the New Statesman explained that the hacking relates to Turkey’s recent fight with the Netherlands, after the Dutch government did not allow a Turkish minister into the country. Turkey goes to the polls next month to decide whether to accord more power to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ahead of the referendum, Erdogan has courted the Turkish diaspora in Europe. The Netherlands explained that the minister was not allowed in because she would have been campaigning for the President. Similarly, Germany denied permission for a rally that Erdogan was supposed to attend.
Hi everyone – we temporarily lost control of this account, but normal service has resumed. Thanks.
— BBC North America (@BBCNorthAmerica) March 15, 2017
Contact Daniella Cheslow at [email protected].
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