Reuters Twitter account hacked, false tweets about Syria sent

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Reuters News said one of its Twitter accounts was hacked on Sunday and false tweets were posted, mainly related to the current armed struggle in Syria.

“Earlier today @ReutersTech was hacked and changed to @ReutersME,” said a spokesperson for Reuters, which is owned by Thomson Reuters Corp. “The account has been suspended and is currently under investigation.”

The incident follows the company’s disclosure that the blogging platform of the Reuters News website was compromised on Friday and a false posting purporting to carry an interview with a Syrian rebel leader was illegally posted on a Reuters’ journalist’s blog.

In the latest incident a series of 22 false tweets were sent purporting to be from Reuters News. Some of the tweets also carried false reports about Syrian rebel losses suffered in battles with Syrian government forces.

Thomson Reuters had no immediate information on who was behind the hacking.

Twitter could not be immediately reached for comment.

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012