Gorbachev is NOT dead – false news spreads on Twitter again

Many Twitter users have repeated the “news” today about the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet statesman.

The news seemed to gain momentum after a Twitter account (@FReinfeldtGov) created just an hour earlier, claiming to belong to the Prime Minister of Sweden, published the “news” of Gorbachev’s death.

The Twitter account, whose authenticity must be questioned, even claimed that the news had been confirmed by the Russian prime minister.

However, as with the bogus news earlier this month claiming that Margaret Thatcher had died, the story of the death of Gorbachev is – of course – entire nonsense.

Once again, Twitter users are proving that it’s all too easy to spread disinformation quickly around the world by not checking their facts.

The #Gorbachev Foundation confirm that President Gorbachev is alive and well.

— RT UK (@RTUKnews) May 22, 2012

At least some journalists still believe in fact-checking..

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.