PM Modi's Twitter handle compromised, hackers tweet 'India adopts Bitcoin as legal tender'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal twitter handle was “briefly compromised”, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tweeted early Sunday morning.

The tweets, which have now been deleted, said that India had officially adopted Bitcon as legal tender and that the government had officially bought 500 BTC, which it was distributing to all residents of the country.

The tweets were deleted in three minutes after getting more than 200 likes. The PM’s account was restored soon after.

The PMO put out a tweet explaining the incident at 3.18 am Sunday. It said the prime minister’s Twitter handle was “very briefly compromised” before the issue was taken up with Twitter and the account secured. Any tweet in that period ought to be ignored, it said.

Several Twitter users shared screenshots of the posts tweeted from the prime minister’s account during that period.

“Good Morning Modi ji, Sab Changa Si (everything is all right)?” tweeted Indian Youth Congress national president Srinivas B.V.

The compromised tweets on the government making Bitcoin legal tender comes at a time when the Modi government is considering bringing a bill to regulate cryptocurrency in India. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, is expected to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

Not the first time PM’s Twitter handle has been compromised

This is not the first time that PM Modi’s personal Twitter handle has been compromised. Last September, the account, which is linked to the prime minister’s personal website and mobile app, was compromised by an unidentified group of hackers. The account was later restored.