Doha: Those responsible for hacking the official website of Qatar News Agency (QNA) will be traced and prosecuted, Qatar Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the website of QNA was hacked at 12: 14 am on Wednesday and false and unfounded news were posted on it, falsely attributing to the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The website was brought back under control after four hours. However, there are some attempts to hack the social media accounts of QNA and such attempts are being continuously resisted.
“The despicable goals of the perpetrators or instigators behind this malicious electronic crime are not known,” the official said.
The ministry said it was astonished that despite a statement by the Government Communication Office explaining that the website was hacked and denouncing the false statements, some media outlets and satellite channels continued to circulate and comment on these false news.
“Instead of verifying the validity of these news and cease circulating it after the issuance of an official statement they kept circulating the fake news, which is counter to professional and ethical rules and raises more than one question about the motives and objectives of these media organs,” the official added.
A team has been formed to investigate this crime and some friendly states have expressed their willingness to participate in the investigation.
The official stressed that Qatar “will undertake all means, legal measures and procedures to trace and prosecute the perpetrators of the piracy crime against QNA website and will reveal the outcome of investigations as soon as they are finalized.”
