# Seems Al-Jazeera got Hacked! Excuse my laughter... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788 "2003-03-28T15:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/1 "2003-03-28T15:08:19Z")
Check out [this](http://www.msnbc.com/news/891626.asp?vts=032820030630) Article. Apparently, both websites the English and Arabic, were hacked and defaced with large American Flags. And the hacker actually put “Let Freedom Ring” under the flag. Rock-on American Hackers I find this decidedly funny, that a hacker would take it upon him or herself and express their opinion in this way. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/2 "2003-03-28T15:20:45Z")
Not really. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/3 "2003-03-28T15:35:15Z")
Heh. k3w1, or however you write it these days… as long as no actual damage to the station’s system was done, I do think it is an amusing bit of tweaking their noses. Just as long as it doesn’t become a habit. Though maybe for balance, someone should plant a peace message with pictures of Michael Moore and Jacques Chirac in the FoxNews page… ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/4 "2003-03-28T16:20:23Z")
Not funny at all. al-Jazeera is a solid, hard-core news organization that was founded by the BBC, and not the mouthpiece for Saddam that you seem to think it is. But it’s obvious, from being targetted, that they’ve got more credibility than Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/5 "2003-03-28T16:25:57Z")
I never said it was the mouth-piece for Saddam. And in my Humble Opinion any organization that broadcasts slanderous material from known terrorists is not exactly on the top of the heap. And from my understanding, Al-Jazeera has been noted as being enquirer-like and not soley regarded as chcok full of hard-core facts. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/6 "2003-03-28T16:36:38Z")
I knew I should have included “Osama” in my previous post :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/7 "2003-03-28T16:54:01Z")
I have said this before in a Pit thread about this subject, and I will say it here. Because of the DOS and other attacks that Al-Jazeera has been suffering this week, I have been unable to view it. This means that some folks have essentially taken it upon themselves to decide the type of information that I can view. To me this is on the same slippery slope as censorship and book burning, and therefore I hope that the folks that are doing this are caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/8 "2003-03-28T17:04:30Z")
**OUCH!!** - Am I missing something or do people on these boards really care about an organization endorsed by known terroroists. I am all for being informed about the mid-east, but there are better ways than via Al-Jazeera. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/9 "2003-03-28T17:32:24Z")
Yes, I think that you are missing something. The principal of the thing. To me, it is vital to expose myself to different points of view, even though I might find many of them repugnant. I am a mature adult, capable of assimilating information from multiple sources and then making up my own mind. For someone to take it upon themselves to limit information that I can access is at very best paternalistic. Really, this is no different than John Ashcroft covering the statue of Lady Justice, or Fundamentalist Christians burning Harry Potter books. What is even more sad is that it looks like it may be folks from the USA that did this. I think that this makes us all look small and afraid. Look, either freedom works or it does not. If it works, then it has nothing to fear from the free flow of information. It may seem that I am making a big deal out of this, but really I consider this type of behavior to be immoral, reprehensible and un-American. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/10 "2003-03-28T17:49:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > \*\*Am I missing something or do people on these boards really care about an organization endorsed by known terroroists. > \*\* cite please > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > \*\* > I am all for being informed about the mid-east, but there are better ways than via Al-Jazeera. > \*\* This is what the people in the middle east are using to get their news. I’d like to know what the people in the middle east are seeing, hearing and saying. What better way are you reccommending? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/11 "2003-03-28T17:51:31Z")
**Binary** I see your point. Meeting logic halfway and having a genuine want to see both perspectives is an admirable trait, and furthermore the sign of someone who truly fights against ignorance. In that I commend you. In the past it has been speculated that Al-Jazeera was used as a tool by terrorists to give important information to people in the field - sleeper cells if you will. I am mainly reacting to that information. The defacement of their website to me, is not that big of a deal. I would personally rather be informed by sources found to be more credible by the people who watch them. I have several contacts in the Cairo region. People I went ot school with who happen to be arab. They tell me Al-Jazeera is not looked upon as a wholly credible source of information. And the main people who watch it are those who either silently, or outwardly support fundamentalist views. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/12 "2003-03-28T17:53:24Z")
**Simon** - on your first point I have no cite, I was being reactionary. As for your second point, look at the last paragraph of my last post. ---
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/13 "2003-03-28T17:58:12Z")
Okay color me confused. Isn’t Al-Jazeera the ones that were showing the bodies of dead soldiers? Were they not the ones interviewing POWs? I didn’t think they were suppose to do that. I have a hard time respecting them just on that basis. Can someone straighten me out on this? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/14 "2003-03-28T18:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ashkicker \* > \*\*Okay color me confused. Isn’t Al-Jazeera the ones that were showing the bodies of dead soldiers? Were they not the ones interviewing POWs? I didn’t think they were suppose to do that. I have a hard time respecting them just on that basis. Can someone straighten me out on this? \*\* I think that you are missing the point. This is not about weather or not Al-Jazeera is a good news organization or not, and it is not about if they are or are not supposed to show what they are showing. It is about the free flow of information. If some schmuck takes it upon himself to prevent me from seeing the source of information for a huge segment of the world’s population, I consider this to be an attack on my freedom. That this happened in the name of freedom makes it all the more repugnant. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/15 "2003-03-28T18:04:14Z")
Also, I would like to point out that I went to IMHO and a Great Debate broke out. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/16 "2003-03-28T18:18:26Z")
**Phil** What better method are you reccommending? ---
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/17 "2003-03-28T18:20:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Binarydrone \* > \*\*Also, I would like to point out that I went to IMHO and a Great Debate broke out. \*\* Eeek your right about that. Does that mean it should be moved to Great Debates? I was just trying to better understand your point of view. Not debate. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/18 "2003-03-28T18:20:32Z")
For those of you into conspiracy theories… how much you want to bet the C.I.A. hacked them? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/19 "2003-03-28T18:23:46Z")
[It has consistently topped viewer ratings in the Middle East and claims 35m viewers.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1579929.stm) **Ash** , The point is that this is a popular ME media outlet. **I’m** curious about what they are reporting. My interest isn’t related to their relative accuracy or bias but to their popularity. What info are people over there being presented with? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788/20 "2003-03-28T18:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ratatoskK \* > \*\* > For those of you into conspiracy theories… how much you want to bet the C.I.A. hacked them? > \*\* I’d bet against it. I doubt that the CIA cares about blocking AJ. I’d guess…someone else. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-al-jazeera-got-hacked-excuse-my-laughter/164788.md?page=2)