Guantanamo Wi-Fi shuttered after Anonymous hacking threat
In unity with the prison's inmates, the hacking group pledges to disrupt online activities at Guantanamo -- prompting the U.S. military to shut down the base's Wi-Fi.
After the hacking collective Anonymous launched a Twitter campaign pledging to go after the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the U.S. military barred all Wi-Fi access on the base, according to the Associated Press. All social media, including Facebook and Twitter, also has been banned.
Army Lt. Col. Samuel House told the Associated Press that the shuttering of the base's Wi-Fi was because of Anonymous' public plans to "disrupt activities" at the military prison.
While no disruptions have yet been reported, according to the Associated Press, Anonymous has promised to make good on its threats.
The group said it launched its online protest in solidarity with the prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for the last few months. Anonymous publicized its campaign via several "Twitter Storm" packages with various hashtags referencing days in May, including #GTMO17, #GTMO18, and #GTMO19.
According to Anonymous' Twitter Storm packages, the group's goal is to "raise awareness in social media of the human rights violations going on at Guantanamo, the indefinite detention of prisoners, many of whom have been cleared for release years ago."
The majority of prisoners currently being held at Guantanamo are on strike, according to the Associated Press. They are protesting the conditions of the prison, as well as seeing no end in sight to their confinement.
Monday's Wi-Fi shutdown isn't the only Internet glitch at Guantanamo as of late. Last month, dozens of legal files suddenly disappeared from computers of lawyers representing Guantanamo inmates. Hundreds of thousands of these lawyers' documents also landed on the prosecution's computers. It's not clear how the files vanished or if there was any illegal action behind the disappearance.