Has the BBC been hacked by ISIS? Social media abuzz after millions receive breaking news alert in BENGALI

  • Robert Peston, ex-BBC economics editor, was among first to notice tweet
  • Some social media users assumed the writing was in Arabic 
  • 'OMG. It's Arabic. ISIS have seized the BBC', one commenter tweeted
  • BBC admitted technical error led to link to report for its Bengali service 

By Nick Enoch for MailOnline

Published: 13:18 EST, 2 September 2016 | Updated: 13:52 EST, 2 September 2016

A tweet from the BBC in a language some assumed to be Arabic led to panic this evening, as people thought the corporation had been hacked by ISIS.

The message was posted by BBC Breaking, which has around 24million followers. 

Robert Peston, the former BBC economics editor, was among the first to notice, tweeting: 'BBC has just pushed this breaking news alert to my phone. Anyone know what it means?'

A tweet from the BBC in a language some assumed to be Arabic led to panic this evening, as people thought the corporation had been hacked by ISIS. Robert Peston, the former BBC economics editor, was among the first to notice the message (above)

A tweet from the BBC in a language some assumed to be Arabic led to panic this evening, as people thought the corporation had been hacked by ISIS. Robert Peston, the former BBC economics editor, was among the first to notice the message (above)

'NOTIFICATION IN ARABIC!': TWITTER REACTS

The topic trended across the social media network, with one Twitter user writing: 'OMG. It's Arabic. ISIS have seized the BBC.'

Another commented: 'Has IS grabbed control or something?'

However, it quickly emerged that the tweet was actually written in Bengali.

The BBC said tonight that it had not been hacked - rather, a technical error had triggered a link to a report from its Bengali service.

The tweet in question actually concerned a police raid on a militant hideout in Mirpur, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during which one suspect was killed and three officers were injured. 

The BBC said tonight that it had not been hacked - rather, a technical error had triggered a link to a report from its Bengali service. The message (above) concerned a police raid on a militant hideout in Mirpur, in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The BBC said tonight that it had not been hacked - rather, a technical error had triggered a link to a report from its Bengali service. The message (above) concerned a police raid on a militant hideout in Mirpur, in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A spokesman for the BBC said it had been sent by mistake by a World Service reporter and was taken down minutes later.

'It was just an error, somebody tweeted from the wrong account,' he added.

'It was literally a human error and it has been corrected.'

The organisation's Breaking News division tweeted: 'Apologies to anyone who received a breaking news alert from our Bengali service. Don't worry, we weren't hacked.' 

A spokesman for the BBC said it had been sent by mistake by a World Service reporter and was taken down minutes later. 'It was just an error, somebody tweeted from the wrong account,' he added

A spokesman for the BBC said it had been sent by mistake by a World Service reporter and was taken down minutes later. 'It was just an error, somebody tweeted from the wrong account,' he added

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