Hacktivist Group Disrupts State TV News With Antigovernment Message

Iran’s state broadcaster was hacked in the middle of its main news program Saturday night transitioning from a clip showing the Supreme Leader to chants of “women, life, and freedom.”

Hacktivist group Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice) hacked the Iranian state TV's live news broadcast, displaying a photo of Ali Khamenei with the verse "The Blood of Our Youths Is on Your Hands" along with photos of Mahsa Amini and three teenage girls killed in the current uprising across the country. 

The photo bore a message to the Iranian people, calling on them to join the protests and be part of the uprising that was ignited by the murder of 22-year-old Amini in the custody of hijab police.

Earlier in the year, the group hacked the television website and broadcasted a video with a strong opposition message after it disrupted a few TV and radio channels a week earlier. The video started with footage of people in Tehran’s Azadi stadium shouting “death to dictator” referring to Supreme Leader Ali Kamenei, then it cut into a close up of a masked man similar to the protagonist of the movie V for Vendetta, who said “Khamenei is scared, the regime’s foundation is rattling”.

Since the beginning of the protests in mid-September, several hacking groups have been helping the Iranians with targeting state websites and online services. They have released numerous documents and have disrupted hundreds of surveillance cameras.