ArmInfo.A number of non-governmental organizations in Armenia issued a statement condemning the attacks on the media, and in particular on the Aravot.am news site.
Thus, the statement received by ArmInfo notes that as a result of a hacker attack, the YouTube channel of the Aravot.am news site was hacked, and the entire video archive was deleted. According to the site's editor, Anna Israelyan, this happened after the editors posted the announcement of a video with the following content: "How and to what extent did the revolutionary officials get rich in a warring country during the war year? Who are the "wealthy kings" of our days?". The statement said that the video investigation would be published in the coming hours.
The NGOs emphasized that this is not the first time that by a disturbing coincidence, criticism of the authorities is followed by hacking attacks on online platforms. "A preliminary study of the facts by information security experts shows the technical commonality of the emphasis of these actions. In particular, experts noticed the coincidence of the tactics of this hack and another hacker attack carried out on the YouTube channel of the "Union of Informed Citizens" NGO in January of this year. Under these conditions, it is puzzling when some representatives of the ruling political force spread absurd and sarcastic comments on social networks, blaming the same media for this," the statement said.
At the same time, expressing outrage at the hacker attack on the media, NGOs demanded that law enforcement agencies accept this statement as a message about a cybercrime and take immediate measures to identify and bring to justice those responsible, and representatives of the ruling political team to refrain from baseless assumptions and comments that are nothing more than attempts to divert attention from the essence of the problem.
The statement was signed by the the Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech, Yerevan Press Club, Center for Media Initiatives, Media Diversity Institute - Armenia, Asparez Journalists Club, Center for Freedom of Information, Public Journalism Club, Journalists for the Future NGO, Journalists for Human Rights NGO, Goris Press Club, Femida NGO.
Let us also add that yesterday hacker attack on the "Aravot" publication was condemned by the Union of Journalists of Armenia.
"The Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly condemns this cyber attack on the Aravot daily newspaper, demands that the government and all state bodies identify the perpetrators and instigators of the crime as soon as possible and bring them to justice. Otherwise, the suspicions that the attack on "Aravot" was carried out on the instructions of the authorities, and more specifically on the instructions of Nikol Pashinyan himself, will be confirmed.
The Union of Journalists of Armenia assesses the attack on the "Aravot" newspaper as part of the campaign unleashed by the government against freedom of speech and mass media, calling on all representatives of media, journalists, regardless of their political preferences and contradictions, to show professional solidarity and joint support for one of the oldest Armenian media, contributing to the disclosure crimes with the same sequence and requirement," the Union of Journalists of Armenia stressed.