/ 4 July 2011

Happy 4th of You Lie: Hackers tweet Obama’s ‘death’

Happy 4th Of You Lie: Hackers Tweet Obama's 'death'

Hackers broke into an official Twitter account operated by Fox News early Monday and posted a series of tweets that claimed United States President Barack Obama had been assassinated.

The Twitter feed for Fox News’ political news — @FoxNewspolitics — sent out a series of “malicious and false tweets” on Monday morning, Fox News confirmed in a statement. The posts had not been taken down hours later.

“@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead,” read the first of the Obama-related tweets.

Just before false posts began, the hackers apparently announced their control over the account, with the post: “Just regained full access to our Twitter and e-mail. Happy 4th.”

The updates, which were “retweeted” by thousands on the microblogging site and prompted headlines around the world, said Obama had been “shot twice at a Ross’ restaurant in Iowa” during a campaign spot.

The US leader is in fact in Washington, not Iowa, and was planning to celebrate the July 4 holiday with his family and military families later Monday.

“President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP,” continued the tweets.

Fox News said the hacking was being investigated, and that it “regrets any distress the false tweets may have created”. — AFP