Photograph: Darren England/EPA
An anti-gun group has accused the firearms lobby of hacking its Twitter account and writing posts that claimed the group was funded by George Soros and had worked with the “deep state” to block investigations into the Port Arthur massacre.
Gun Control Australia, an anti-firearms group that advocates for tougher gun laws, said on Thursday that its Twitter account had been hacked earlier in September.
“GCA is now aware the account has been hacked for some time with many false tweets being posted that have not been endorsed by GCA,” Samantha Lee, the head of the group, said.
“GCA stopped using the Twitter account some time ago due to ongoing harassment from the gun lobby.
“This is just another dirty tactic by the gun lobby to suppress the voice of concerned Australians who are proud of Australia’s gun laws and don’t want to see Australia become like America.”
While the hack appears to have occurred earlier this month, Lee only became aware of the breach on Wednesday night when the imposter posted a tweet about the new Australian Gun Safety Alliance.
The alliance was launched on Wednesday night by the parliamentary Friends of Gun Control, headed by Labor MP Andrew Leigh and Liberal John Alexander.
The alliance includes members from public health organisations, the Blue Ribbon campaign, medical associations and child safety associations.
While Lee had been invited to the event, she didn’t attend because of a previous commitment. She said GCA was a signature to the new gun safety alliance and “fully supports the new body”.
However, on Wednesday night a tweet from GCA’s account said the group was “deeply saddened” not to be invited to the launch.
Lee blamed members of the “gun lobby”, which she claimed was attempting to “sabotage” the launch of the Australian Gun Safety Alliance. She said the hack would be reported to the Australian federal police.
After being made aware of the false tweet, Lee said she realised the GCA account had been hacked some time ago.
Earlier in September a tweet from the group’s account stated that it had been working with “the deep state” to ensure that an inquest was not held into the Port Arthur massacre “and we will continue to do so until all of the witnesses are dead”.
Claims the Port Arthur massacre was in some way manufactured are popular among far-right conspirators.
Earlier in September, the hacker also tweeted a fake Change.org petition claiming the group had received a $100 million donation from George Soros.
Soros, a prominent business magnate, philanthropist and political activist, is also a lightening rod for a myriad of far-right conspiracies.
