The official websites for Indonesia’s Press Council and the Attorney General’s Office were defaced by unidentified hackers this morning, in what seems to be a form of protest against intolerance in the country.
The Press Council’s website (dewanpers.or.id) is not accessible at the time of writing. Earlier this morning, the website’s homepage featured a bloodied Garuda (Indonesia’s national symbol) and a message urging for tolerance:
Situs Dewan Pers dan Kejaksaan Agung Diretas https://t.co/4eK1WJfRX5 pic.twitter.com/z0NPF4B1X0
— detikcom (@detikcom) May 31, 2017
When Garuda is wounded, it is because of the provocations of the wicked. When the saying “Unity in Diversity” is ignored, it is because of the actions of those who claim to act in the name of religion. When holy scripture is debated, it is by those who feel like they own heaven. When the struggles of our heroes for independence are neglected just like that, it is by those who feel they are the most praiseworthy.
Please stop these divisions, sir. My nation is not a nation for one religion or owned by those who want to destroy our culture, it’s not owned by just one group of people.
#PeaceInMyIndonesia #GloryToMyNation #WeAreIndonesia
The message was signed off with ‘M2404~2017’, believed to represent the initials of the hacker and the year of the hack.
The Attorney General’s Office’s website (kejaksaan.go.id) is also still inaccessible at the time of writing, after being defaced in a similar fashion to the Press Council’s this morning, though the message was written in English and features a photo of Harley Quinn from that vapid mess of a comic book movie, ‘Suicide Squad’:
Situs Diretas, Kejaksaan Agung Alihkan Informasi via Twitter https://t.co/zlzuPdR3bT pic.twitter.com/QBeTyc3DB8
— Okezone (@okezonenews) May 31, 2017
The message was signed off with 9 hackers’ pseudonyms (including M2404) under what appears to be the group name ‘Sho0tz’.
It’s not clear why the websites of the Press Council and the Attorney General’s Office were targeted by the hackers to promote their message of tolerance. Officials from both institutions say they’re working on getting their websites back up as soon as possible.
The public is speculating that the hacks on the websites were a response to the apparent rising intolerance in Indonesia, particularly the imprisonment of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy and the subsequent emboldening of fringe hardline Islamic groups like the Islamic Defenders Front, who played a big role in pressuring the judiciary to jail Ahok.
