WASHINGTON — A series of false tweets that claimed
resident Barack Obama had been assassinated were finally erased on
Monday, 10 hours after a hacker used a Fox News’ Twitter feed for the
hoax.
FoxNews.com said that the “malicious and false”
tweets had been removed from the feed and that it had alerted the US
Secret Service, the special unit that guards the US president.
“We will be requesting a detailed investigation from
Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future
unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” Jeff Misenti, vice
president and general manager of Fox News Digital, said.
The Twitter account, @foxnewspolitics, which has more
than 33,600 followers, was apparently hijacked at 2 a.m. EDT Monday,
which marked US Independence Day. The tweets said that Obama was shot
dead at a restaurant in the state of Iowa while campaigning, and wished
Vice President Joe Biden the best of luck.
No sources were named for the tweets, which were removed about noontime.
A Twitter spokeswoman refused to comment on why the
false tweets remained on the Fox News Twitter account so long, The New
York Times reported.
The Times also reported that a group called Script
Kiddies had claimed responsibility for the hacking, citing a tip from
the former editor of an online student magazine at Stony Brook
University.
The phrase “script kiddies” is also jargon for people who cause mischief on the internet.
The Obamas were scheduled to host military heroes and
their families later Monday at the White House. The festivities were to
include a barbeque, concert and fireworks on the national Mall.
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