Supreme Court’s YouTube channel hacked, livestream promotes crypto

The Supreme Court of India’s YouTube channel has been hacked and stripped of the videos of its previous hearings. The channel’s name and image now say “Ripple”, reportedly after a US-based cryptocurrency firm, Ripple Labs.   

The channel is now showing videos promoting XRP, a cryptocurrency developed by Ripple Labs. At the time of writing this report, it was streaming a live video titled “Brad Garlinghouse: Ripple Responds To The SEC's $2 Billion Fine! XRP PRICE PREDICTION”. 

The top court has been using YouTube to stream hearings of cases listed before constitution benches and matters involving public interest. It had recently streamed the hearings of the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case.

Several people on X said that the videos of the hearings have been made private after the hacking, while many others raised questions of cyber security.  

Supreme Court's YouTube channel hacked. National security, public safety at risk. Common people's trust shaken, data vulnerable. Urgent action needed to contain breach, restore integrity.
(#SupremeCourtCyberAttack #NationalSecurity #PublicSafety #CyberThreat #) https://t.co/CTLcaTRZZW

— KaalVeer (@kaalVeer7988) September 20, 2024

सुप्रीम कोर्ट के यूट्यूब चैनल पर कुछ और दिख रहा है। सारे पुराने विडियो गायब हैं। लगता है यूट्यूब चैनल हैक हो गया है। #SupremeCourt #YouTube pic.twitter.com/OHsn17l8So

— Prabhakar Kumar Mishra (@PMishra_Journo) September 20, 2024

*Alert*

The official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India has been hacked, currently showing cryptocurrency-related content promoting XRP. Previous case hearings have been made private. Urgent action needed to restore normalcy! @i4CIndia @DCP_IFSO @Cyberdost… pic.twitter.com/co8OU6zgPi

— Mitalli Chandola (@journomitalli1) September 20, 2024

A Supreme Court official told Indian Express that the platform “appears to have been compromised” and it was detected on Friday morning. They said that the Supreme Court’s IT team has taken it up with the National Informatics Centre.

Notably, Ripple had earlier sued YouTube for failing to stop hackers from impersonating its CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.