Isn’t that probably just some string matching on torrent instead of targeted blocking?
This sounds targeted : I guess a torrent domain name wildcard would have read something like "pirate downloading".
EDIT : btw, if "hacking news" is a reason enough for blocking a website, I fear for the security skills of future generations of developers.
The word hacker is meant in the somewhat esoteric "someone that likes discovering clever tricks" sense. I doubt that's the definition Verizon is using.
https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html
https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/18/the-evolution-of-hacker-ne...