Dhaka Stream, Bangla Stream Facebook pages hacked

The Facebook pages of Dhaka Stream and Bangla Stream have been hacked, leaving the organisation without control over its online platforms.

Following the incident, Golam Iftekhar Mahmud, editor and publisher of the organisation, lodged a general diary (GD) with Kalabagan Police Station.

According to Dhaka Stream, the news portal's Facebook page was hit by a cyberattack around 12:44pm on 7 February.

A Facebook account named Umesh Singh obtained super admin access, and Facebook indicated that the account was based in West Bengal.

On the same day, hackers gained partial control of the Facebook pages of Dhaka Stream, Bangla Stream, Stream Pick, Pop Stream, and Dhaka Stream News.

After securing super admin access, they removed the organisation's primary admins from both the pages and the Business Suite.

Although moderators and editors initially had some control, they were also removed yesterday (10 February), leaving the rightful owners with no control over the pages.

As a result, the journalists and content creators of Dhaka Stream are unable to post, edit, or moderate content on any of the pages.

Following the hacking, the news portal opened an alternate Facebook page named "The Stream", while the hackers continue to post articles from the previous page.

"Ahead of the election, the worries over the spread of misinformation and disinformation have grown. Hacking incidents have also increased," Golam Iftekhar said, according to Dhaka Stream.

He added that there were real concerns that hacked pages, including those under the Dhaka Stream brand, could be used to further the spread of rumours, confuse readers, or defame individuals and organisations.

"All efforts are underway to recover the pages," he said.

Police have assigned Sub-Inspector (SI) Noman Uddin Bipul to investigate the matter. Proper legal action is being taken, Dhaka Stream reported, citing police.