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Senator’s Twitter account hacked

Support for controversial antipiracy bill appears to be the motive.

 

Fernando Alfonso III

Tech

Posted on Jan 23, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 10:22 pm CDT

The official Twitter account for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley has been hacked. Now one of the perpetrators is trying to return control to its rightful owner.

Over the last 40 minutes, a hacker has been tweeting out some funny messages inspired by the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, on behalf of the 78-year-old senator. Grassley is one of the three original cosponsors of the controversial bill.

“Chuck is a supporter of SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA, meaning he wants no privacy for private accounts,” tweeted the account, mentioning related antipiracy bills. “Dear Iowans, vote against ACTA, SOPA, and PIPA, because this man, Chuck Grassley, wants YOUR Internet censored and all of that BS.”

The hacker admits that it’s been fun running Grassley’s account, but now it’s time to give it back. He or she asked, in a now-deleted tweet, for someone on Grassley’s staff to email grassleytwitter@gmail.com to get the new password.

Photo via IowaPolitics.com

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*First Published: Jan 23, 2012, 4:39 pm CST