Because our world clearly doesn't have bigger things to worry about, some asshat someone decided that it would be funny to tweet out a phony announcement that Queen Elizabeth II had died, using the fake account @BBCNewsUKI. (This account has thankfully since been suspended.) According to People, it was posing as legit news outlet @BBCNewsUK.
Predictably, no one fact-checked anything and instead went k-ray-zy posting on Twitter:
Thought Queen Elizabeth II had died. Told my mom. Instantly in tears, clutching her commemorative phone case. Whoops. pic.twitter.com/D3IGZKyZpW
— Helen Zook (@helenzook) December 29, 2016
I've never experienced a rollercoaster of emotions as intense as what I felt when reading the Queen Elizabeth "news" then seeing it was fake
— Rachel Simon (@Rachel_Simon) December 29, 2016
Yoah, @MSNBC did you happen to hear Queen Elizabeth died?????
— Sharon Jones (@SharonJ44257163) December 29, 2016
I just read that tweet of Queen Elizabeth being dead and I almost died wth
— ❅❄❅ (@alittleofswift) December 29, 2016
What the hell?!? Queen Elizabeth II just died!
— Lois Lane (@LoisLaneWriter) December 29, 2016
Some Twitter users even blamed the press for covering it up.
Hearing rumors that #QueenElizabeth has died & that the media is holding off from reporting it
— acinoM anigeR (@TheMFWIC) December 29, 2016
Apparently queen Elizabeth is dead and there's a 'press silence' on it for 24 hrs wtf
— harambæ (@MASSOBOYO) December 29, 2016
The 90-year-old Queen missed the annual Christmas church service at Sandringham for the first time in decades this past week because she had a cold, People reports, so many have been worried about her health. But that shouldn't let those who spread — and believed — the hoax off the hook.
A couple of lessons here:
1. We're living in the age of fake news. Double-check everything you read. Do you see that "I" at the end of "@BBCNewsUKI"? That makes it different from actual BBC U.K. And don't post something as news until you've verified it!
2. Keep calm and carry on.
QUEEN ELIZABETH IS NOT DEAD.
— Olivia (@_LIVoutLOUD) December 29, 2016
Fake news is not helping anyone ok.