Internet bigots hijack Downing St website

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2000/06/18/stinwenws03022.html

June 18th, 2000

Labour has been caught up in the web of its own propaganda machine.
The Downing Street internet pages have been hijacked by extremists and
bigots accusing Britain of war crimes and other injustices.

In the most offensive remarks yet to appear on a government website, a
man posted messages last weekend accusing Brigadier Stephen Saunders,
the envoy assassinated in Athens 10 days ago, of being a war criminal
because he had taken part in the Nato operation in Kosovo.

The message, and others equally insulting, stayed on the No 10 site
for seven days until The Sunday Times contacted Downing Street. It is
not the first time Tony Blair has run into trouble over the website. A
Swede named Johan Crona sparked outrage from other users when he
accused Saunders of taking part in what he called Nato ethnic
cleansing.

Referring to the terrorist group which carried out the murder, he
said: "Great, one of the war criminals from Kosovo is dead in Greece.
Thanks November 17!"

As other users of the website sent in angry replies, Crona added: "I
am so happy I could provoke you. And I'm also happy your military
attach is gone. He helped planning [sic] the death and ethnic
cleansing of a lot, a lot of people."

Despite numerous complaints from other users, it was only after a call
from The Sunday Times that Downing Street web administrators banned
Crona and removed all insulting messages from the site.

Doreen Thompson, a civil servant from Belfast, who visits the site
every day because it is "good fun and has some great arguments on it",
said that she was shocked when she saw the messages about Saunders.

She said: "I was quite disgusted and judging by the replies posted, so
was everyone else in the discussion.

"Someone calling themselves the British CDF posted a message which was
very offensive to Irish Catholics recently and they were immediately
banned by the site administrator. I am amazed that this man [Crona]
was allowed to continue with his insults."

A naval officer replied anonymously that Saunders had never fired a
shot in anger. He told Crona: "I hope for your sake that we never meet
. . . the death of any man diminishes us all but in your case I make
the exception."

The murder of Saunders has not been the only contentious issue
discussed on the section of the site called Speakers' Corner, after
the site in Hyde Park, London. Many messages on the site's 30 forums,
dealing with issues ranging from pensions and health to taxation and
transport, carry comments that some people will find insulting.

A defence discussion on "women in the infantry" was a battlefield in
its own right. Replying to a message disputing women's ability to
reach the same fitness levels expected from men in the infantry, one
man said: "You're absolutely right, but you're in danger of
antagonising every dyke heading for the recruiting office."

A message in the crime section, subtitled "some more equal than
others", accuses police of spending too much money hunting the killer
of Jill Dando compared with victims who are not rich and famous.

Another, about last year's nail bomb attacks in London, is sub judice
because a case is before the courts.

Downing Street apologised to the Saunders family this weekend. A Blair
spokesman said: "This should have been picked up and it wasn't. The
website is policed every day but there are 30 different chatrooms and
it is a fact of new technology that people can abuse it.

"We do monitor the messages carefully. This should have been spotted
and removed. It is deeply offensive and we are grateful to The Sunday
Times for bringing it to our attention.

"The prime minister paid a personal tribute to Brigadier Saunders when
he was killed in such barbaric circumstances. "

Blair has admitted in the past that he lacks the computer skills of
his wife and three older children.

The Downing Street website was started in April 1998 and is run by his
strategic communications unit, the so-called "spin" department. "It's
all about communication, helping to create a two-way link between
government and people," Blair said when it was relaunched in February.
He receives regular summaries of what people say.

The website - www.number-10.gov.uk - employs three people and costs
130,000 a year to run.

More than 35,000 people visit the site each week, but fewer than 4,000
visit the section in which Blair gives "webcast" messages to the
nation.

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