ABS-CBN News and ANC 24/7 YouTube Channels were hacked when their pages became unavailable due to the video-sharing platform terminating the said channels.
According to the official statement released by ABS-CBN, YouTube temporarily suspended their channels at 6:30 AM following reports of a hacking incident the day before, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Then, after working with YouTube, ABS-CBN and ANC 24/7 were able to get their channels back on the video-sharing platform around 3:48 PM the same day.
Despite losing its franchise, ABS-CBN continued providing information to Filipinos amidst crises such as the super typhoon Rolly. Pre-shutdown, ABS-CBN has been the go-to news source for netizens, especially during calamities and natural disasters. ABS-CBN received support from netizens with its special coverage and availability, especially in remote areas.
Kahit sabihin mong hindi naman kailangan ang ABS-CBN News kung meron namang GMA, TV5, PTV4, atbp., sadyang may mga remote areas talaga na tanging ABSCBN lang ang nasasagap ng antenna. #IbalikAngABSCBN #ABSCBN #RollyPh
— JOHN CARLO DUGAN (@CARLODUGAN) November 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/dgcrx/status/1322762222808952836
Some even lauded the network’s resourcefulness amidst the lack of franchise all in the service of Filipinos.
https://twitter.com/DanSantos8/status/1322867220976865280
Currently, the ABS-CBN News channel has 10.6 million subscribers, the highest number of subscribers for a Filipino news channel.
