Sydney radio station 2DayFM and its parent company Southern Cross Austereo are in damage control this morning after a prank phone call to a London hospital went wrong over the weekend. The company and its advertisers are now being targeted by hacktivist collective Anonymous, who have accused the station of murder.
Image: Getty
For those unfamiliar with the tragic circumstances surrounding the suicide of Jacintha Saldanha, you can read about them in full on just about every news website in Australia this morning as the moral outrage continues to snowball out of control.
In a bid to stop advertisers from immediately dumping their contracts with the station, Southern Cross Austereo pulled all station advertising over the weekend after it was reported that Jacintha had suicided. This wasn’t enough for Anonymous, though, who posted one of their threatening videos to YouTube this morning. In no uncertain terms, Anonymous accusing the station, the parent company and the two hosts of the murder of Jacintha Saldanha.
“You are directly responsible for the death of another human being…We have found you guilty of murder [and] you have a funeral to pay for,” said the Fawkesian figure.
The hacktivists are demanding that the hosts at the centre of the scandal are immediately sacked from the company. If not, the hackers will not only go after the station, they’ll go after the advertisers.
“You have put their databases, their websites at risk,” Anonymous said, before giving the station a week to comply with the demands. That’s pretty concerning considering that several major telcos advertise with 2DayFM — the station in question.
The two presenters are off-air until further notice and are currently undergoing counselling as a result of the tragic event. [mUmbrella]