A false report about the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI caused a stir on Tuesday evening. taken care of. The post was published by a Twitter user posing as Bishop Georg Bätzing (the current president of the German Bishops’ Conference, note). Spanish-language news agencies and media in particular spread the news apparently unchecked.
At around 2 a.m., Twitter user @BischofBatzing tweeted: “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. died” in German, English and Spanish. About an hour later, Roman journalist Tommasso Debenedetti, who regularly spreads false reports on the Internet, emerged as the creator of the fake news.
According to Debenedetti, whose fake account @BischofBatzing has since been deleted, he wants to show how easy it is to mislead the press in the age of social media. He has also achieved that impressively. Even former Mexican President Felipe Calderón retweeted the rumor and later apologized for it.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
