Hackers target fact-checking site after Clinton endorses it

Verrit was hacked almost immediately after Hillary Clinton tweeted about it.

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Richard Trenholm

Sept. 4, 2017 4:31 a.m. PT

2017 Stephan Weiss Apple Awards — Hillary Rodham Clinton invited followers to try fact-checking site Verrit.
Monica Schipper

A political fact-checking site has been hacked almost immediately after it was endorsed by Hillary Clinton .

Clinton invited followers to sign up to Verrit on Sunday, but within an hour of her tweet a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack prevented the site from loading. It's now up and running again.

I'm excited to sign up for @Verrit, a media platform for the 65.8 million! Will you join me and sign up too? https://t.co/bOLSMyk6bG
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 3, 2017

The site is aimed at "the 65.8 million", a reference to the higher number of US voters who picked Clinton in last year's Presidential Election over the eventual winner Donald Trump .

Verrit describes itself as a source of political information and analysis that "collects and contextualizes noteworthy facts, stats, and quotes for politically engaged citizens". Political factchecking has become a hot topic amid the rise of "fake news", which refers to sources making up false news stories and spreading conspiracy theories. The Trump administration has also been accused of perpetuating what one press spokesperson described as "alternative facts".