The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called on the government to investigate the recent cyber attacks against the websites of media outlets in the country.
The statement was issued after the recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against the website of Rappler and VERA Files.
A DDoS attack is a “malicious attempt” to disrupt the normal traffic to a web property to either take the network entirely offline or simply slow it down.
“These attacks are happening as we near the elections – when vetted information will be crucial in addressing disinformation, misinformation, and political rhetoric – is the most concerning of all,” said NUJP in an official statement released on Friday, Dec. 17.
The organization likewise stressed that the recent attacks against media websites happened amid the “urgent need for information as the Philippines braced for Typhoon Odette.”
Meanwhile, NUJP said that “despite the attacks being traced” to an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), formal requests for investigations were “met with denials and little action.”
The organization said that they will continuously call on government agencies “to investigate and stop these attacks” as the entire NUJP is “ready to work, trace and hold the perpetrators accountable.” (Charie Mae F. Abarca)