Update 11:53am CT: A spokesperson for the New York Post told CNN that the tweets and headlines were the work of an employee and not a hacker as it originally claimed.
“The New York Post’s investigation indicates that the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee, and we are taking appropriate action. This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts,” the statement says.
The original story appears below.
The New York Post says it was hacked on Thursday morning after offensive posts appeared on its site and social media channels.
Whoever is behind the alleged hack appears to have seized control of both the Post’s website and its Twitter account. They apparently changed headlines on multiple stories to be racist, violent, and shocking.
The tweets that posted were swiftly deleted. The headlines no longer appear on the site, either. There is no confirmation if the Post was actually hacked, however.
Screenshots of the tweets are currently circulating online. All the tweets are about politicians.
One tweet falsely claims that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said he would “order Border Patrol to start slaughtering illegals.”
Another attributed an extremely racist statement about New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) to Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).
Zeldin was the subject of a second tweet falsely alleging that he made a violent, sexist threat towards his opponent, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
Yet another one of the tweets reads, “We must assassinate AOC for America,” referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
They also tweeted that someone said that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter should be murdered and that another politician threatened to beat up his opponent.
People were stunned by the tweets. Many simply reacted with “wtf.”
All the tweets occurred within a matter of minutes. It appears the Post now has control of its Twitter account and site.
Shortly after the tweets were deleted, the Post tweeted, “The New York Post has been hacked. We are currently investigating the cause.”
