A self-proclaimed “super-hacker” named David Do claimed credit for hacking Disneyland’s Instagram and Facebook pages on Thursday morning after the accounts posted a range of racist and otherwise offensive content.
The posts were removed shortly after Disney officials became aware of them. Currently, the latest Instagram post on the Disneyland page wished followers a “Hakuna Matata Friday!” in tribute to the new film Tale of the Lion King.
The LA Times reported that the hacker added four posts and two stories to the Disneyland Instagram page with commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues before the content was all removed. The first post was reportedly added at 3:50 am.
In a statement to NBC News, a Disneyland spokesperson confirmed that “Disneyland Resort’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were compromised early this morning” and that the offending posts have since been removed.
“We worked quickly to remove the reprehensible content, secure our accounts, and our security teams are conducting an investigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Disney, like a number of other corporations, has struggled with its cybersecurity in recent years. In 2020, thousands of Disney+ accounts were hacked and customers’ login credentials stolen shortly after the launch of the popular streaming service in the midst of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hacker in this case also reportedly said that they were taking “revenge upon Disney land.”
