14 DAY TRIAL // HMV Group has been forced to axe 190 jobs earlier this week. One of the employees laid off by the British electronics retailer decided to protest against the “mass execution” by hacking into the company’s @hmvtweets Twitter account, Fast Company reports.
“There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand,” she wrote in one tweet.
“Sorry we’ve been quiet for so long. Under contract, we’ve been unable to say a word, or – more importantly – tell the truth,” she added.
The tweets in question have been removed and HMV posted the following message: “One of our departing colleagues was understandably upset. We’re still here thou, thx for supporting hmv thro these challenging times.”
It’s uncertain if the employee in question knew the username and the password of HMV’s Twitter account or if he simply guessed a weak password.
In any case, this shows that social media accounts, especially ones with many followers can be hijacked and abused not only by hacktivists, but also by disgruntled employees.
Updated. It turns out that the employee in question, Poppy Rose Cleere, worked as a social media planner for the company so there's no actual hacking involved.