Fake news item spreads online alleging George Soros has died
At the beginning of the week of 14 November a fake news item began to spread online alleging that George Soros has died, including in the Czech language. The news item was quickly refuted and labeled false and is just the latest in a chain of untrue, falsified news items about the deaths of famous figures.
Mr Soros remains alive and well. Last month’s incident was not the first time rumors of his death have spread online.
In the year 2014, Reuters erroneously published an article reporting that the entrepreneur had allegedly died. The most recent fake news item to this effect read as follows: “On Monday at around 11 AM our beloved entrepreneur George Soros died. He was born on 12 August 1930 in Budapest. We will miss him, but we will never forget him. Please show your condolences by commenting on this post and ‘liking’ our website.”
The rumor of the alleged death of Mr Soros began spreading on Monday 14 November through the Facebook social network and attracted more than a million “likes”. Hundreds of fans immediately began to write their condolence messages and express their sorrow over the alleged death of the 87-year-old entrepreneur.
Besides messages from trusting fans, sceptical opinions were also posted. These referred to the fact that the announcement of the supposed death had not been published by any big American media outlets, which indicated it was a fraudulent news item, because the death of such a significant person would have been headline news in all media outlets.
“He has become part of a long list of celebrities who have fallen victim to this fraud. George Soros is still alive and well. Stop believing what you see on the Internet,” a Soros representative warned the tabloid news server Mediamass.
Some fans subsequently expressed anger over the spreading of the false news. Others said their gestures of condolence demonstrated how extraordinarily popular Mr Soros is worldwide.
