Jordan denies security services hacked website | Bangkok Post: tech

Jordan denied on Tuesday that its security services had hacked and, for several hours, silenced the kingdom's most popular news website, Ammonnews, after its chief editor alleged they had done so.

Jordan has denied that its security services had hacked and, for several hours, silenced the kingdom's most popular news website, Ammonnews, after its chief editor alleged they had done so.

"We categorically reject the unproven and strange claims that the security services attacked the website," the state-run Petra news agency quoted an unidentified government official as saying.

"The authorities have not received any complaints about the issue. They will investigate it once they receive a complaint."

"Jordan is a country of laws and institutions that fully carry their duties to protect people's rights," the official added. "Respecting the law and press freedom is one of Jordan's constants."

Ammonnews went offline for several hours on Monday, a day after it had published a statement critical of the government issued by 36 members of Jordan's major tribes who represent the backbone of the kingdom.

The statement -- issued against the backdrop of mass protests in Egypt -- spoke of a "crisis of authority" and "profound corruption," and warned that Jordan would "sooner or later" face a popular revolt.

"Security services ordered the closing of the site and they are the ones who decided to reopen it," chief editor Basel Okoor told AFP on Tuesday, as journalists staged a sit-in at their union offices as a gesture of solidarity.

Back online, Ammonnews republished the statement, but with sensitive sections dropped.

Ammonnews became Jordan's first news website at its launch in 2006. Fifty others have since sprung up but Ammonnews remains the most popular with 250,000 daily visitors, according to data from web traffic monitor Alexa.