Daniel Radcliffe Shuts Down Coronavirus Reports And Is Still ‘The Boy Who Lived’
Image via Matteo Chinellato / Shutterstock.com
Daniel Radcliffe has hit back at a hoax report stating that he had contracted coronavirus.
The false claim was shared by a fake BBC account, @BBCNewsTonight, which wrote, “BREAKING: Daniel Radcliffe tests positive for coronavirus.”
“The actor is said to be the first famous person to be publicly confirmed,” the tweet continued.
The tweet quickly spread across the social media platform, but a representative for Radcliffe reassured that the claims were not true at all.
The Twitter account, which used the BBC’s official logo, looked legitimate to many, but suspicions arose as it only had 125 followers. Nevertheless, it managed to dupe several Twitter users including a New York Times reporter and the Politico editorial director, who have apologized for circulating the hoax tweet. The account was immediately suspended, according to a Twitter spokesperson.
BuzzFeed News has spoken to those who had spread the hoax in a group chat. To support their claims, they sent a screengrab showing the engagement of the tweet, which showed over 300,000 impressions and over 20,000 profile clicks.
The group consists of 33 members, and they have been spreading false information since 2016. When asked why they would carry out such activities, they claimed it was “funny” being able to manipulate others, and that the “internet was lowering people’s IQ.”
So, a fake BBC account just tweeted an actual BBC article from January but added in a fake headline claiming Daniel Radcliffe has coronavirus, which the article does not say and is not true. It’s currently going viral as I type. pic.twitter.com/MyFqdKZ3GJ
— Cindy Otis (Pre-order TRUE OR FALSE now!) (@CindyOtis_) March 10, 2020
To the galaxy brains at Twitter who thought nobody would abuse the hide replies feature, behold. @JaneLytv pic.twitter.com/NgjAJHSmq6
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) March 10, 2020
[via BuzzFeed News, opening image via Matteo Chinellato / Shutterstock.com]
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