MAVOCKE--Assembly Minority Leader Allison McGint has condemned a liberal group and its anonymous website hackings that have targeted Conservative members of parliament.
At a press conference Monday, McGint, a Nationalist member for Salberry in central Damoign, called the tactics "childish" and "disrespectful."
In particular, McGint took issue with the sexist and personal insults made against various members of the National Assembly, most recently, East Deschire Rep. Sara Fraser, of whom hacksters posted offensive pictures online after hacking Fraser's Twitter account.
"This kind of behavior is childish and disrespectful, and if anyone--regardless of political stripe or belief--engages in this kind of behavior, it demeans the political process and degrades the political leaders who are targeted," McGint said.
She added the group has no support from the Nationalist Party or parliamentary leaders.
"In no way is this anonymous group affiliated with or supported or funded by the Nationalist Party. Our party strongly disavows sexist and offensive attacks on members of parliament," she said.
Later in the day, Senate Majority Leader John Morandi (N-Lial) also criticized the attacks.
"These tactics really disrupt the political process, and they are a distraction and made in distaste. No member of parliament should ever be demeaned or made fun of because of their gender or race or religion. That's not the Grassadellian way," Morandi said.
Conservatives have decried the hackings, and claim the NAT has been slow to condemn them.
"The Nationalist Party has been inexcusably slow to disavow these kinds of offensive attacks on Conservatives. It begs the question, and makes you wonder: is the NAT behind these attacks? Or are they just amused by them and allowing their party's extremists to continue this type of political degradation?" Rep. Gary Kessler, member for Solomon, Veroche said in an interview with the GBC.
Assembly Majority Leader Brandon O'Malley, Conservative member for Coupling-Olean Basin in Damoign, also questioned the NAT's sincerity in condemning the attacks.
"This sort of thing happens in politics. Extremists on both sides will hijack the political process and hack into websites and say hurtful things and post inappropriate images and content. This sort of thing happens, unfortunately. And I think it's very telling that the Nationalist Party has been extremely slow to denounce these Twitter attacks, particularly those on Conservative women," O'Malley said in a press conference Monday.
Conservative women in the Assembly also voiced their opinions on the matter.
"There's no doubt that women face a higher hurdle in the political world," Veroche Rep. Beth McGill, of Jilanovich-East Waters, said in an interview with the Grassadellia City Times.
"There's a lot of sexism out there, and it's ironic that the Nationalist Party, which prides itself on being the 'pro-women party,' is allowing this kind of behavior to continue and has been slow to distance themselves from it."
Crown Police are continuing to investigate the hackings, although the agency has publicly said few resources have been assigned to the issue thus far because of the relatively innocent nature of the web crimes.
"We certainly do care about cyber security and cyber privacy," Crown Police spokesman John Goening told the NPF. "But we have to devote our resources to crimes that are very serious in nature and more threatening to public safety than internet hackings."
"This investigation is ongoing, however, and we discourage any group from trying to hack into any website where they're not permitted. Our cyber crimes unit will catch up with them eventually," Goening said.
At a press conference Monday, McGint, a Nationalist member for Salberry in central Damoign, called the tactics "childish" and "disrespectful."
In particular, McGint took issue with the sexist and personal insults made against various members of the National Assembly, most recently, East Deschire Rep. Sara Fraser, of whom hacksters posted offensive pictures online after hacking Fraser's Twitter account.
"This kind of behavior is childish and disrespectful, and if anyone--regardless of political stripe or belief--engages in this kind of behavior, it demeans the political process and degrades the political leaders who are targeted," McGint said.
She added the group has no support from the Nationalist Party or parliamentary leaders.
"In no way is this anonymous group affiliated with or supported or funded by the Nationalist Party. Our party strongly disavows sexist and offensive attacks on members of parliament," she said.
Later in the day, Senate Majority Leader John Morandi (N-Lial) also criticized the attacks.
"These tactics really disrupt the political process, and they are a distraction and made in distaste. No member of parliament should ever be demeaned or made fun of because of their gender or race or religion. That's not the Grassadellian way," Morandi said.
Conservatives have decried the hackings, and claim the NAT has been slow to condemn them.
"The Nationalist Party has been inexcusably slow to disavow these kinds of offensive attacks on Conservatives. It begs the question, and makes you wonder: is the NAT behind these attacks? Or are they just amused by them and allowing their party's extremists to continue this type of political degradation?" Rep. Gary Kessler, member for Solomon, Veroche said in an interview with the GBC.
Assembly Majority Leader Brandon O'Malley, Conservative member for Coupling-Olean Basin in Damoign, also questioned the NAT's sincerity in condemning the attacks.
"This sort of thing happens in politics. Extremists on both sides will hijack the political process and hack into websites and say hurtful things and post inappropriate images and content. This sort of thing happens, unfortunately. And I think it's very telling that the Nationalist Party has been extremely slow to denounce these Twitter attacks, particularly those on Conservative women," O'Malley said in a press conference Monday.
Conservative women in the Assembly also voiced their opinions on the matter.
"There's no doubt that women face a higher hurdle in the political world," Veroche Rep. Beth McGill, of Jilanovich-East Waters, said in an interview with the Grassadellia City Times.
"There's a lot of sexism out there, and it's ironic that the Nationalist Party, which prides itself on being the 'pro-women party,' is allowing this kind of behavior to continue and has been slow to distance themselves from it."
Crown Police are continuing to investigate the hackings, although the agency has publicly said few resources have been assigned to the issue thus far because of the relatively innocent nature of the web crimes.
"We certainly do care about cyber security and cyber privacy," Crown Police spokesman John Goening told the NPF. "But we have to devote our resources to crimes that are very serious in nature and more threatening to public safety than internet hackings."
"This investigation is ongoing, however, and we discourage any group from trying to hack into any website where they're not permitted. Our cyber crimes unit will catch up with them eventually," Goening said.
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