Not Real News
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week.
ClaimWhen the British news outlet Sky News tweeted a video interview with Prince Andrew, the FBI responded with its own tweet, saying, “Ooh, is he doing interviews now?”
The factsThe FBI did not send this tweet. British composer Nick Harvey confirmed to The Associated Press that he created the fake tweet as a joke.An image containing the bogus tweet circulated after members of Britain's royal family reacted to the announcement that Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, had died at 99.On April 11, Sky News tweeted a video clip of an interview with Philip's son, Prince Andrew, in which he reflected on the queen's response to her husband's death. A fabricated image circulating widely on social media on Monday appeared to show a screenshot of that tweet, along with a wry reply tweet from the FBI. The apparent FBI tweet read, “Ooh, is he doing interviews now?” Twitter and Facebook users recognized it as a reference to Andrew's lack of cooperation with a probe into accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Several social media users shared the image of the false tweet with posts that read: “The FBI wins Twitter today.” A search on Twitter revealed that the Sky News tweet was real, but the FBI response was not. It existed only as part of the manipulated image created by Harvey. Harvey tweeted to claim ownership of the image, saying, “Of course the FBI would never actually tweet a reply like this, so I thought I'd mock it up for them instead.”
ClaimGeorge Floyd's younger brother, Dejywan Floyd, was arrested for murder in North Carolina.
The factsGeorge Floyd, who died while being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, does not have a younger brother named Dejywan.The Associated Press reported April 1 that Dejywan Floyd, 29, a North Carolina man, was charged with first-degree murder in the March 25 fatal shooting of Julie Eberly, 47, of Manheim, Pa. Eberly and her husband were driving to the beach when Floyd allegedly fired multiple shots from his car into Eberly's car on Interstate 95, just north of Lumberton. Ryan Eberly was not injured.Robeson County sheriff Burnis Wilkins told The Associated Press that he is not aware of any relation between Dejywan Floyd and George Floyd. “We have no information at all to confirm this is true nor do we have reason to check into it as it's not related to our case,” Wilkins said in an email. “We have seen the rumor ourselves. The last name Floyd is very common in our county and surrounding area.”According to the obituary, George Floyd is survived by sisters Zsa-Zsa Floyd, LaTonya Floyd, Bridgett Floyd; stepsisters Camisha Carter and Constance Carter; brothers Terrance Floyd, Philonise Floyd and Rodney Floyd; and stepbrothers Deldrick Carter and Adrian Carter.The AP also reached out to Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, civil rights attorneys representing the Floyd family, but did not receive a response from either.
ClaimA photo shows the Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as a senior in high school with a mullet hairstyle and a tuxedo.
The factsThe image is not genuine. A reverse-image search revealed Gaetz's face was superimposed onto a different man's portrait, which has been circulating as a meme online for at least 11 years.The viral image resembling Gaetz shows a young man in an apparent school portrait. He wears a tuxedo and a mullet hairstyle, with blond locks that are short and curly on top but long and straight on the sides. Twitter and Facebook users shared the image this week with captions claiming it showed Gaetz as a high school senior. “Any time Matt Gaetz tweets just respond with his senior photo,” several social media users wrote. The false image amassed thousands of likes and shares as Gaetz continued to face a House Ethics Committee probe and a federal investigation for sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls. The original image has been circulating in internet memes as far back as 2010.A Gaetz representative with the PR firm Logan Circle Group sent The Associated Press a statement reiterating the lawmaker's denial of the allegations and confirming the image was fake.
