'The Onion' Twitter Account Appears to Have Been Hacked

By Todd Wasserman2013-05-06 18:09:10 UTC

The Onion's Twitter account on Monday appeared to have been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, though there's always the possibility that it could be a joke.

The account began tweeting strange messages around 1 p.m. EDT, starting with this:

Israel denies forging new alliance with Al Qaeda: "We were friends all along, so it can't be new" - IDF Spokesperson onion.com/LZuAvY

— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

Others followed:

NASA: 9th planet discovered and identified as the Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifah onion.com/JQyVjn twitter.com/TheOnion/statu…

— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

UN's Ban Ki Moon condemns Syria for being struck by israel: "It was in the way of Jewish missiles" onion.com/104PKAs

— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

We only wish this one was a joke, but this is what we have to live through in #Syria. twitter.com/TheOnion/statu…

— The Onion (@TheOnion) May 6, 2013

A fake hack would not be out of the realm of possibility for an organization that often pushes its humor to the breaking point. In February, it apologized for a crude tweet aimed at 9-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis . Before that, The Onion reported a fake shooting on Capitol Hill that many took for real.

The publication's website was unaffected by the hack as was its Facebook Page. Reps from The Onion could not be reached for comment.

Update: The Onion now claims it has changed its Twitter password.

Image via Getty, Justin Sullivan

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