IFJ Slams Alleged Cyberattack On CNN Philippines During Presidential Debate

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2022) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Friday condemned a cyberattack that allegedly hit CNN Philippines last week, making its website hosting a presidential debate unavailable.

The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack occurred on February 27, shutting down the CNN Philippines' website broadcasting the debate ahead of the presidential election, scheduled for May 9, the group said.

"Arbitrarily restricting access to news sources restricts vital reporting during a critical period for citizens of the Philippines.

The IFJ strongly condemns these cyberattacks against independent news outlets and calls for a full investigation into the sources of these attacks," IFJ said in a statement.

The cyberattack in question was not the first such incident, with the previous ones targeting ABS-CBN, Rappler, Vera Files, and Philstar news outlets occurring in December 2021, the NGO said, recalling that DDoS attacks are illegal in the Philippines.