SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Facebook shut down the Kobas digital media outlet page following “deliberate” cyber-attacks from an anonymous group.
Independent Kurdish news outlet of Kobas said Facebook has shut down its page following “systematic” cyber-attacks by an anonymous group in Jordan, it said in a press release.
The page has more than 600,000 followers, making it one of the largest Kurdish-language media page on Facebook.
It also accused a “certain” party within the Kurdistan Region to be behind the cyber-attacks because Kobas is a non-partisan media outlet, covering “violations” which may not be in the interest of a certain public authority, especially in Erbil and Duhok.
“Dears, it is clear recently, freedom of expression has come under threat by authorities clamping down on activists, NGOs, and independent media corporations. That is why we want to raise our voice and send a message to those who care,” it said.
“Freedom of expression in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been increasingly curtailed over the past years, Journalists face death threats including our team, and media corporations’ pages and accounts on social media are under continuous cyber-attack threats,” it added.
