Ukrainian Hackers Target Foreign Journalists for ‘Helping Terrorists’
FREE SPEECH
European officials not happy.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
International media organizations have expressed alarm after a group of Ukrainian hackers published the personal data of more than 4,000 foreign journalists who have worked in the country’s war-torn occupied territories. The list, published by the Kiev-based Mirotvorets website Wednesday, includes the personal email addresses and telephone numbers of journalists from publications, including CNN, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, BBC, The New York Times, Vice News, and Al Jazeera. The list includes a statement claiming all journalists mentioned violated Ukrainian law and “collaborated with terrorist organizations” in rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine. Numerous international organizations warned that the data leak puts journalists covering the two-year long conflict in Ukraine in danger. Reporters Without Borders, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have all issued statements urging Ukrainian authorities to take action against those who published the list.