A faction of the Anonymous collective have taken down godhatesfags.com, the Westboro Baptist Church home page. The website was attacked during a TV debate yesterday following an extended stand-off between the two groups.

“God hates fags: assumption. Anonymous hates leeches: fact,” said the group in a message posted on the hacked site, which was “seized by Anonymous under section #14 of the rules of the Internet”.

Anonymous accuse the Westboro Baptist Church of attention-seeking in the wake of a convoluted war of words. “The world (including Anonymous) disagrees with your hateful messages, but you have the right to voice them. This does not mean you can jump onto Anonymous for attention,” they warned.

The conflict began after a press release calling for action against the homophobic sect was posted on a non-moderated Anonymous website. It was immediately dismissed as a distraction from campaigns in support of Wikileaks, the Middle East revolutions and internet piracy by many in the controversial hacker collective. The Westboro Baptist Church nevertheless responded with a hate campaign against Anonymous.

The US religious group is well-known internationally for its homophobic protests. Cult members frequently picket funerals, wielding placards with slogans such as “God hates fags”.

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