{"id":17903,"date":"2018-08-13T14:41:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T09:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=17903"},"modified":"2018-08-13T14:41:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T09:11:21","slug":"cnn-newsi8-india-tooday-times-how-and-repubiictv-how-parody-accounts-fool-social-media-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/cnn-newsi8-india-tooday-times-how-and-repubiictv-how-parody-accounts-fool-social-media-users\/","title":{"rendered":"CNN Newsi8, India Tooday, Times HOW and RepubiicTV: How parody accounts fool social media users"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psychologists have long argued that people are wired to believe what they want to believe. Parody accounts of news websites have figured this out and are preying upon this weakness. Even the most outrageous information tweeted by these parody handles is finding an audience as scores of people fall for it because the information is in line with their inherent biases.<\/p>\n

Let us look at some of these handles and their tweet that people fell for:<\/p>\n

CNN News I8<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The twitter handle of now suspended @CNNNewsI8<\/em> looks identical to the original as many don\u2019t figure out that the letter \u201cI\u201d has been used instead of the number \u201c1\u201d in its name.<\/p>\n

Prominent right wing accounts have fallen victim to the tweets of this fake handle. A tweet that announced wedding bells for Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar saw many right wing twitterati falling over each other to retweet and comment on it. They found this \u201cnews\u201d so utterly believable that they missed noticing that this handle only had 66 followers and unlike the real CNN News 18<\/em>, it did not have a blue tick.<\/p>\n

The handle has now changed its name to CNN News 69.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even after a clarification by Mehr Tarar, the tweet withwith the fake news was shared over a 1000 times.<\/p>\n

\n

What’s hilarious is that people have actually reacted to a news from a parody account with 66 followers.<\/p>\n

Amazing what people are ready to believe these days without even basic verification… https:\/\/t.co\/KnfllztTCq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) August 11, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are some of those who fell for it.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DkVjgDfW0AAqmCm.jpg\"
\n\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DkVjeb5X4AAAyab.jpg\"<\/p>\n

That was not all. Yet another tweet of CNN Newsi8<\/em> saw OpIndia<\/em>\u2019s \u201cneutral\u201d @bhak_sala do a quick delete job of his tweet attacking \u201cneutral journalists\u201d who dared to question PM Modi.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DkVyaVDWsAAom_L.jpg\"<\/p>\n

India Tooday<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you are inclined to believe something, it is easy to overlook the extra \u201cO\u201d in the account that is impersonating India Today<\/em>. The tweet also had grammatical mistakes that were missed by those who shared it believing it to be true.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DkV4MDnXsAAdl4b.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Rakesh Khar of News18<\/em> was one of those who fell for this news but apologised later.<\/p>\n

\n

Sorry folks I retweeted what looked like the handle of a reputed media house,misled by the handle’s use of the official logo.I have since undone the RT.Thank you for pointing it out.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rakesh Khar (@rakeshkhar) August 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Times HOW<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

HOW people fall for Times HOW<\/em> never ceases to amaze. Janta Ka Reporter<\/em> even went on to publish<\/a> an article on a satirical tweet<\/a> of Times HOW<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/jkrtimeshow.jpg?resize=696%2C535\"<\/p>\n

Janta ka Reporter<\/em> has company as in the past Aaj Tak<\/em> has even broadcasted<\/a> an evening show with imagery based on a tweet of this parody account.<\/p>\n