Cyber attack hits Channel One Facebook page

A massive cyber attack has been launched on the official Facebook page of private television media Channel One, immediately after broadcasting an investigative report on the Minister of State for Local Government, Mir Shahe Alam. At the same time, attempts are being made to hack the organization's official Instagram account (channelonenewsbd).

The digital onslaught began right after the report was published on Channel One's digital platforms. The main report was blocked on Facebook by claiming fake copyrights from two pages named 'Anandabarta' and 'Ali Khan'. Channel One authorities believe that a major conspiracy is behind this scandalous incident of claiming fake copyrights and blocking original content.

This cyber attack was officially confirmed on Saturday, July 18 by Channel One Editor-in-Chief Nazmul Ashraf. Earlier, on Friday, July 17, at the 7 PM One Bulletin, an investigative report titled "Breaking ethics, Local Government Minister does business with government; contracting in three ministries" was broadcasted.

The investigative report presented detailed data and evidence regarding Mir Shahe Alam's contracting work in various government departments. The report stated that these contracts also include works under the Minister's own ministry. Not only that, after becoming the Minister, he took contracts worth about 40 crore BDT from the government, which lawyers and concerned experts termed as unconstitutional and against ethics. Investigations showed that the organized syndicate removed the photo card related to the news alongside the fake copyright claims. After that, bot accounts were used throughout the night to continuously report various contents of Channel One. Especially, mass reports are being submitted on Facebook whenever any new post related to Mir Shahe Alam is uploaded.

Under the allegation of fake copyrights, strikes were given to several news reports, cards, and even the profile and cover photos of the Facebook page, the main purpose of which is to permanently shut down Channel One's Facebook page. On Saturday afternoon, July 18, the news related to this cyber attack was also removed from the Facebook page.

Channel One Editor-in-Chief Nazmul Ashraf said, "The report on the Local Government Minister's contracting business has been prepared in compliance with all rules and ethics of journalism. Therefore, if anyone has any statement regarding the report, there is an opportunity to protest it in a systematic way. But instead of following the conventional path, attempts are being made to choke the voice of the media by launching cyber attacks."

Channel One authorities strongly condemned such a cowardly act and confirmed that their technical team is working to regain complete control of the Facebook page.
//DBTech/SI/SME//