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Daniel Radcliffe has been forced to deny he has coronavirus, after becoming the subject of a widely spread Twitter hoax.
On Tuesday (March 10), a fake BBC News Twitter account claimed that the Harry Potter star had tested positive for the virus, which continues to spread across the globe.
When asked if the actor had tested positive for the virus, a representative told BuzzFeed news: “No, not true.”
The fake account fooled Twitter users by borrowing the corporation’s recognisable branding and sharing a link to an old BBC News Alerts page.
“BREAKING: Daniel Radcliffe tests positive for coronavirus. The actor is said to be the first famous person to be publicly confirmed,” the tweet read.
Before the account was suspended, the tweet was up for at least seven hours and reportedly shared at least 762 times and liked by over a thousand users.
It even fooled The New York Times’ White House correspondent Maggie Haberman and Politico’s digital editorial director Blake Hounshell.
Earlier today, I RTed a fake BBC account and un-RTed when a very helpful reader flagged it. My apologies for confusion. Here's a good read on the hoax: https://t.co/qdfjfdza0v
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 10, 2020
Hounshell subsequently tweeted: “Apologies, folks – fooled by a fake BBC account.”
Haberman said: “Earlier today, I RTed a fake BBC account and un-RTed when a very helpful reader flagged it. My apologies for confusion.”
According to BuzzFeed, the fake account also used the option to hide tweet replies in order to hide tweets from a reporter calling out the hoax.
It comes after the virus continues to spread across the globe, forcing the cancellation and postponement of major events in a bid to prevent further cases.
Coachella has officially announced that it will be postponed until October, while Austin’s SXSW was shelved last week.
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