Email Account of China Investigative Journalist Infiltrated

July 27, 2011

Email Account of China Investigative Journalist Infiltrated

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned to learn that the email of a journalist conducting sensitive investigative work in mainland China has been hacked.

Caixin Media investigative journalist Zhao Hejuan had her Google email (Gmail) account infiltrated by a hacker between July 19 and 22 after she went to Shaoyang, Hunan Province as part of her investigation into illegal trafficking of children.

According to a statement by the company on July 23, the hacker’s IP address was from Longhui County, Shaoyang, Hunan Province where Zhao was following up a Caixin report from May 8. It is alleged that local babies and toddlers were removed by local officials of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, with the excuse to the families that they had breached China’s one-child policy. The children were then allegedly illegally sold overseas.

Zhao, accompanied by an in-house lawyer, reported the hacking to her local police station on July 22. Police said they will hand the case to sub-bureau of the public security office in Chao Yang, Beijing, and will provide a response as soon as possible.

“Hacking into an individual’s email account is not only a clear breach of privacy, it is a criminal act,” the IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

“It is even more worrisome when a journalist’s email is hacked, as because a journalist’s confidential sources may be compromised.”

The IFJ applauds the actions of Caixin in reporting the incident to police and pledging to follow up the case.

The IFJ urges police to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the allegations of hacking.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific

ENDS

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