According to Times of Malta, readers contacted the newsroom fearing that the council’s website had been hacked as the old site is currently advertising pornography.
Times of Malta reported how the website was taken over by a Chinese registered company after the old domain name was allowed to expire in early 2018. The domain was left unused for several use until it was registered on March 10th 2022 in the Hunan province, China.
The newsroom reported how the mayor of Birkirkara, Joanne Debono Grech, directed them to the council’s official government site. A Facebook post was also uploaded to the official page of Birkirkara’s local council reminding its followers that the official website is now a page on the website of the local government ministry.
When a domain is not used as a home page, a council may opt to redirect to the council’s Facebook page. This is a move adopted by the Sliema local council.
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