A hacktivist remotely wiped three white supremacist websites live onstage during a talk at the annual Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, Germany, last week. The pseudonymous hacker, who goes by Martha Root and was dressed as the Pink Ranger from the Power Rangers, deleted the servers of WhiteDate, WhiteChild, and WhiteDeal in real time at the end of the presentation.

Root gave the talk alongside journalists Eva Hoffmann and Christian Fuchs, who previously wrote an article about the hacked sites for the German weekly paper Die Zeit in October. The websites, WhiteDate, which Hoffmann described as "a Tinder for Nazis," WhiteChild, a site that claimed to match white supremacist sperm and egg donors, and WhiteDeal, a labor marketplace for racists, remained offline as of this writing.

The administrator of the three websites confirmed the hack on their social media accounts. "They publicly delete all my websites while the audience rejoices. This is cyberterrorism," the administrator wrote on X on Sunday, vowing repercussions. The administrator also claimed that Root deleted their X account before it was restored.

The method Root employed to take down the sites was not disclosed during the presentation, but such attacks often involve exploiting vulnerabilities in the websites' code or infrastructure, or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that overwhelm the servers with traffic. The act raises questions about the ethics of hacking, even when targeting extremist content, and the potential for escalation in the digital realm.

The takedown of these websites highlights the ongoing battle between hacktivists and those who promote hate speech online. While some applaud Root's actions as a blow against white supremacy, others raise concerns about the legality and potential for abuse of such tactics. The incident also underscores the challenges of policing online content and the role of technology in combating extremism.

The long-term impact of the website takedowns remains to be seen. It is unclear whether the sites will be restored or if the administrator will face further action. The incident is likely to fuel further debate about the role of hacktivism in addressing online hate speech and the ethical considerations involved.