Moms for Liberty Website Shut Down by ‘Anonymous’ Hackers

'We just had another massive attack. It's down again right now.'

A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him May 13, 2017. Kacper Pempel/Reuters

The Moms for Liberty website was shut down multiple times by unknown hackers.

On May 24, the website for the national parents’ rights group, Moms for Liberty, came under attack by “Anonymous” hackers and was completely shut down several. While speaking with The Epoch Times, the co-founder of the organization said the website had just been hit again.

“We just had another massive attack,” Mom’s for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice told The Epoch Times around 2:30 p.m. EST on May 25. “It’s down again right now.”

A video was posted online by an unknown hacker who goes by the screen name “@iamanonlegion.” In the dark, 43-second clip, you see the shadowed and distorted image of someone wearing a hood and the classic Anonymous mask, with its grotesquely exaggerated smile, declaring that “Anonymous Operation GOP has taken down the website belonging to Moms of Liberty.”

“We told you it was too late to expect us,” the unknown hacker says, again using the incorrect word “of” rather than “for” in the group’s name. “Now, Moms of Liberty is offline internationally. We demand equality for all humans. Not just GOP and those like-minded to them. This is non-negotiable.”

The clip ends with the ominous clap of thunder. A graphic materializes against the blackened background, saying: “Anonymous. We are legion.”

A video posted on social media by a hacker after shutting down the Moms for Liberty website, on May 24, 2023. Screenshot/Moms for Liberty website

While speaking with The Epoch Times on May 25, the Moms for Liberty website was hit a second time.

“We experienced a cyber attack yesterday and now today,” Justice said, adding that multiple hackers tried to claim credit for the attack.

“Our mission is to unify, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government. So I really think people need to stop and ask themselves why our parental rights are such a threat to these organizations,” Justice said.

Asked if the hackers had been identified, Justice said the organization had been advised not to name any of them.

“We’re trying not to glorify their actions,” Justice explained. “What we’re being told is that we need to not glorify their actions.”

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice (C) addresses the media near Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 23, 2023. Richard Moore/The Epoch Times

Periodically, when trying to log on to the Moms for Liberty website, visitors were greeted by a “504 Gateway time-out”  screen.

According to How-To-Geek: “A [Gateway time-out error] happens when a server that was attempting to load a web page did not get a response in time from another server. Almost always, the error is on the website itself, and there’s nothing you can do about it but try again later.”

Error code message displayed when trying to log on to the Moms for Liberty website around 4:30 p.m., on May 25, 2023. Screenshot/Moms for Liberty website

Justice shared her thoughts on possible motives for the attack.

“The question really becomes, what is it about parental rights that the people who seek to radically change our country are so afraid of?” She asked, suggesting, “There are people who don’t agree with parental rights.”

“There are Marxists who are teaching our children in school that America is not a great country,” she said, noting that “the head of the American Library Association is a self-proclaimed Marxist.”

“Why are parental rights such a threat?” Justice wondered. “The answer is parental rights and the family unit stands in the way of communism. We are standing in defense of liberty and freedom and against communism in America. Why are people fighting so hard to have parental rights not recognized in law?”

‘Americans Need to Wake Up’

This was not the first time “Anonymous” hackers targeted conservative websites.

In 2011, Townhall reported that conservative websites like Americans for Prosperity came under assault by “Anonymous” hackers. Reuters reported that “Anonymous” threatened to shut down the Fox News website for its coverage of Occupy Wall Street.

In 2018, Newsweek reported that at least three conservative websites were hit repeatedly over the course of several days.

Justice could only marvel at the way some cheered the attack on the Moms for Liberty website.

“People are celebrating it,” Justice said. “It’s fascinating to me.”

For the rest of the day, efforts to log on to the website were hit and miss.

Around 4:30 p.m. EST, the website was down again. While it came back online briefly, it was down again an hour later.

Despite the disruption to the Moms for Liberty website, Justice remained resolute.

“Obviously, their goal is to try to silence us,” she said. “But moms and dads are going to continue fighting for their kids and their rights to raise their children. These are fundamental rights. The government doesn’t give us these rights, and they can’t take them away. Certainly, a hacker can’t take them away. So we will keep persevering and keep getting the site put back up.”