Birkirkara local council’s old website has been taken over by a Chinese-registered company and now advertises pornography.

Readers have contacted Times of Malta fearing that the council’s website had been hacked but, according to an online tool that allows users to visit old versions of the site, it appears Birkirkara allowed its old domain name to expire in early 2018.

The domain was unused for several years until it was re-registered on March 10, 2022, in the Hunan province of China.

It now features flashing pornographic adverts.

Council reminds public its site is on ministry website

Unfortunately for the Birkirkara local council, there is very little to do except wait for the domain to once again be open for registration which may never happen if the current holders keep it under their control.

The mayor of Birkirkara, Joanne Debono Grech declined to answer several questions about the website and instead directed Times of Malta to the council’s official government site.

She did not immediately respond but, within hours, the Birkirkara council posted an update on its Facebook page reminding its followers that its official website is now a page on the website of the local government ministry.

It is common practice for businesses to not only purchase the domain they wish to use but to also snag all the similar variants that users might search for to guarantee that a misguided search does not lead users down the wrong paths.

Even when the domain is not being used as a home page for the council, they can redirect to the council’s Facebook page, which is what Sliema local council’s IT team has done, or have other uses such as directing people to a petition, as in Gżira’s case.