It seems as though British newspaper The Independent's official Facebook page was hacked by an Iraqi social media personality ... for a rather petty reason.
Mahmood Jumaa took over the British daily's page after midnight on Thursday, not to make a political or religious statement, but to merely advertise his social media accounts and boost his following count.
The incident has been reported by several social media users, as well as Lebanese writer and blogger Claude El Khal, but it is yet to be confirmed by reliable sources.
It began at 3:30 a.m. Beirut time
El Khal, a writer and director who blogs at Claudeelkhal.blogspot.com, says that he noticed something unusual on The Independent's official Facebook page at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.
According to El Khal, the page's profile picture was replaced with an image of an Iraqi flag and an Arabic status was posted.
The blogger, along with several social media users, shared screenshots of the incident.
"How are they," the status read. "A call to the Arab base, where are you?"
The hacker's demands? Instagram followers
He did not make an effort to hide his identity
The hacker identified himself as "Mahmood Jumaa" from Iraq, going on to share the link to his social media accounts, asking people to follow him.
It turns out Jumaa already boasts almost 100,000 followers on >Instagram.
Jumaa did not stop there. He went on to share this silly post
And apparently started a live video
To no-one's surprise, Jumaa bragged about the hack on his Instagram page
The Independent has since regained control over the page and deleted Jumaa's posts without issuing an official statement on the incident.