The Anonymous hacking group has named Fox News as its next target, and according to a new video, the group is threatening to "destroy" Fox News' website for what is says is the broadcasting company's negative portrayal of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
In a video apparently released by Anonymous and posted to YouTube, the voice of a digitally altered narrator chastises conservative Fox News talk show hosts, including Sean Hannity, for "attacking the credentials as well as the character of the occupiers at Wall Street." The video blames Fox News for "belittling" the protestors by using words like "filthy, disgusting and dirty" to describe those taking part in the Occupy movements in cities across the nation, CNET reported.
To combat what it calls Fox News' "continued, right-wing conservative propaganda," the video announces the kickoff of "Operation Fox Hunt," and says that on Nov. 5, Anonymous members will destroy the Fox News website, (the video does not specify how). Not only does the video promise to take down the news site, but Anonymous, the video says, will "also engage in a propaganda campaign of our own to show them how it feels to be chastised."
When asked for comment, Fox News maintains that security is always a top priority, and this day will be no different.
This new plan, if it is legitimate, falls in line with Anonymous' history of hacktivism, which has seen the group stand up for its beliefs by targeting the New York Stock Exchange, PayPal, the Church of Scientology and government websites in countries with controversial leaders such as Egypt, Zimbabwe and Tunisia.
Choosing Nov. 5 as the day of the Fox News takedown is intentional: It is Guy Fawkes Day, the anniversary of the discovery of a plot to blow up the British Parliament in 1604, referenced in the movie "V for Vendetta." In public protests, Anonymous members and their supporters often wear the masks worn by the movie's hero.
Anonymous in April had singled out Nov. 5 as the day it would destroy Facebook, but that plan may not come to fruition, as talk on the group's main Twitter channel following the release of the video announcement said the video was a fake.
