U.S. Capitol Police investigates fake news reports from The Onion

[News_Editor]

U.S. Capitol Police investigates fake news reports from The Onion

2011-09-30 02:01:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A series of tweets and a fake news story from The Onion reporting a shooting and hostage situation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Thursday led to outrage and a police investigation.

The prank began at around 9.30 a.m. local time when The Onion, a satirical news publication, posted a message to its 3.1 million subscribers on the social networking website Twitter. "BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol building," the message said.

The tweet raised the question whether The Onion's account had been hacked or whether it was a joke, and some even took it seriously although the site is widely known to only publish fake news. "I work at the Capitol and I just yelled at my coworkers that there was gunfire... you scared the s* out of me," one Twitter user said.

About ten minutes after the initial post, The Onion posted a follow-up message claiming that 12 children had been taken hostage by a group of armed Congressmen. "Reports from those who know Congress say the legislative body had seemed desperate as of late," another message said.

The satirical news publication took it a step further on its website where it posted a fake photo of House Speaker John Boehner holding a gun against the head of a little girl. "If the money is not delivered by this evening, members of Congress say they will shoot a new child every hour on the hour," the caption said, referring to a supposed $12 trillion ransom.

However, the U.S. Capitol Police was not amused and in response sent out a statement to journalists. "It has come to our attention that recent Twitter feeds are reporting false information concerning current conditions at the U.S. Capitol," a statement from spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider said.

Schneider added: "There is no credibility to these stories or the Twitter feeds. The U.S. Capitol Police are currently investigating the reporting."

On social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook, some people responded with outrage and saying it was inappropriate. "Enough already. It's not even funny and you're freaking people out while joking of children being killed," Joseph Gonzales wrote on Twitter.

Other people did find it funny or criticized people for overreacting to the fake reports. "Amazed by moronic overreaction to #CongressHostage gag," Jay Schiappa tweeted. Kevin Snow said: "I love that some people still fall for @TheOnion. The #CongressHostage tweets today and the reaction have made my day."

The Onion was founded in 1988 and, in addition to its website, also publishes satirical articles in a print edition. In September 2009, two Bangladeshi newspapers were forced to apologize after it reported that U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong had told a news conference that the Moon landings were an 'elaborate hoax'. The Bangladeshi reports were based on a story published by The Onion.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-30

[TAWP]

I thought it was funny.

Truthful too, however in reality the gun against the child's head isn't see as the child is on their knees under the congressman's desk.

[Steely Dan]

When people get outraged by satire there really is a warning sign for democracy.

[ParadiseLost]

They never read the story about the little boy who cried wolf.

One day there will be a real incident and the authorities will hesitate, which could lead to disaster.

Its about time people realise Twitter is a novelty, and should not be taken seriously at all. Especially not by television news and police.