'Syrian Hackers' Take Over E! Online Twitter, Tweet Fake Headline About Justin Bieber

The pro-Assad hacking group Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) appear to have taken over the Twitter account of E! Online, using it to tweet a fake headline that said Justin Bieber had come out as gay.

The hack comes after similar attacks on the Twitter accounts of the AP and the Guardian.

Here's a screenshot of the E! Online Twitter account at the time of writing (update: the account has since been suspended):

The Bieber story seems to shock a lot of E! Online's followers:

Bieber's online fanbase is on the defensive:

We reached out to one alleged member of the SEA, known as Th3 Pr0, who told us that he was behind the attack (Business Insider interviewed Th3 Pr0 — who claims to be just 18 years old — last week).

Th3 Pr0 sent us this screen-grab that appears to show himself in the E! Online account:

It's not entirely clear why the Syrian Electronic Army would target an entertainment group like E! Online (or, for that matter, a pop star like Bieber).

When we asked Th3 Pr0, he sent us a link to this tweet: