A leading South Sudanese civil society and rights body has said it is perturbed by the emerging trend of cyber-attacks on media houses and their social media handles.
The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization’s (CEPO), Executive Director Mr Edmund Yakani, in a statement yesterday strongly condemned the attacks.
“CEPO is strongly disturbed by the recent negative developments towards online media outlets and their social media platforms,” he said. “We strongly condemn the individuals or groups of persons perpetrating these negative and unlawful acts which constitute a violation of freedom of expression by engaging in the hacking of social media platforms.”
Yakani said it is a bad indicator that in less than a month, two online media houses’ social media platforms have been hacked.
“Sudans Post’s official Facebook account was hacked two weeks ago and now 16 February, Radio Tamazuj’s official Twitter handle is hacked. These negative developments are disturbing especially now when the country is undergoing a political transitional process around constitution making, conduct of elections, and transitional justice,” he said. “These political processes require observation or respect for freedom of expression and free media.”
“Finally, CEPO is urging donors to invest funds in strengthening media outlets’ digital security and safety,” he added.
