Anonymous hackers take down five government websites in whaling protest
INTERNET ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous has claimed responsibility for taking down five websites linked to the Icelandic government to protest whale hunting.
Anonymous announced their opposition to whaling
Iceland has continued whaling despite signing up to an international ban.
The sites went down on Friday and did not go back online until around noon on Saturday.
Activists linked to Anonymous - who are famous for making announcements wearing ‘Guy Fawkes’ masks - published screenshots showing the sites were down on Friday evening.
Whaling in Iceland
Iceland is a member of the International Whaling Commission
The sites include the official website of Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson as well as the North Atlantic nation’s interior and environment departments.
Iceland is a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), an inter-governmental body which imposed a ban on all commercial whaling in 1986.
Anonymous is perhaps the world's most notorious 'hacktivist' group
The moratorium remains in place, but both Iceland and Norway continue to hunt whales.
As a relatively remote island, whaling has always been a vital part of the Icelandic economy.
But animal rights activists condemn the trade.
A call to Action #Anonymous #OpWhales
Whaling in Iceland
This is not the first time recently that Anonymous have taken down websites of organisations they disagree with.
In the wake of the Paris atrocities of November 13, the organisation has replaced ISIS websites with adverts for viagra and has even photoshopped rubber duck heads onto pictures of jihadis.