Newspaper describes Meta’s inaction as callous following hacking of Facebook page

A national newspaper in the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has described as “callous” the inaction by Meta following the takeover by hackers of the company’s Facebook page (@Searchlight1).

The newspaper Searchlight, published by Interactive Media Limited, said on Thursday, they first noticed unusual activity on the page on January 31, 2024, when all their administrators were logged out, then denied access to the page.  There was no further activity on the page until March 6, when posts of a sexually provocative nature began appearing on the page and in its Facebook stories.

“The company has reported the breach to Meta using all available means, to no avail,” said Corletha Ollivierre, the newspaper’s editor, who added that even the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force has not been able to get the attention of the technology conglomerate.

“In the meantime, untold reputational damage is being done to our brand,” Ollivierre said.

“Our company was founded in 1995 by a small group of Vincentians and it is frustrating to look on at the destruction of our hard work over the last 28 years and not be able to do anything.

“Meta has told us that their records do not show that we set up this page or that we are administrators. We find that strange, because we verified our ownership of the page with Meta a few years ago, so they know who we are. They have documents that attest to Interactive Media Limited’s ownership of the page.

“Also, a five-minute inspection of our website (searchlight.vc) or other social media platforms: Instagram – @searchlight_svg or X (Twitter) – @SearchlightSVG would show that the hacked page has all our branding and the same content as our other platforms prior to January 31, 2024.

“I find their inaction shows a callous disregard and utter disrespect for a media organization that has been doing business with them since 2011,” Ollivierre said.

This abandonment of hacking victims by Meta has been decried by law enforcement authorities in the United States and on March 5, 2024, a coalition of 41 state attorneys general wrote to Meta, calling on them to take immediate action.