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- Private school board settles tuition fees conflicts with parents
- Myanmar’s Shan Army denies “funds acceptance” from OIC
- PaO armed troops surrounded NLD's office near Taunggyi
- CNG substitution gas, electric power to be produced from garbage in Yangon
- Storm evacuees to be relocated back home today
- Kyodo News Agency opens office in Myanmar
- MPT configure mobile phone bills to prepaid monthly
- Cyclone Mahasen to dissipate as low pressure, predicts Myanmar
- Gov't says preparations has been undertaken for Cyclone Mahasen
Eleven sues ‘propaganda news site’ over hacking incidents
Published on Wednesday, 30 January 2013 16:25
Eleven Media Group has filed a lawsuit against online news site Myanmar Express in connection with two hacking incidents that disabled Eleven Media’s news website on January 15 and 16.
The lawsuit was filed at Tamway Township Police Station on Monday. Eleven Media also said it was monitoring the webpage of anonymous blogger Dr. Seik Phwar over alleged defamation in articles posted under that name on Myanmar Express.
The lawsuit cites Article 34 of the Electronic Transactions Law, which calls for punishment of up to five years in prison, a fine or both for “hacking, modifying, altering, destroying, stealing, or causing loss and damage to electronic records, electronic data messages, or the whole or part of a computer program”.
Eleven Media’s website was hacked after Myanmar Express encouraged its readers to distribute a link that would allow them to hack the website. Myanmar Express also encouraged its readers to begin hacking Eleven Media’s news site at 7am on January 15, accusing Eleven Media of reporting false news.
Eleven Media’s news site was hacked at about 2 pm on January 15 and at about 2.30pm on January 16 the next day, making it inaccessible. The hacking was traced to a group that called itself the “Red Army Team”.
Myanmar Express is a propaganda website that was set up to denigrate opposition figures, especially democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and independent media, the lawsuit says.
Eleven Media chief editor Wai Phyo said the lawsuit was not intended to undermine online reporting but said Eleven Media Group would not tolerate cyber attacks. He said the group rejected personal attacks from groups like Myanmar Express that targeted the opposition as well as those who attacked the government, pointing to a popular anti-government Facebook account, Demo-Fatty.
“Speaking ill of others too much should not be done in Myanmar culture. The president and Daw Aung Suu Kyi play crucial roles in national reconciliation. We don’t like personal attacks, but support the right to criticise,” Wai Phyo said.