How did a fake photo burn $500 billion in the stock market?

The Pentagon is on fire and within minutes the US stock markets are burning $500 billion. Too bad the news of the fire at US Defense headquarters is fake news backed up by a fake photo that is most likely a montage. But the real thing is the panic created in the stock market, which has an immediate impact on the performance of the Dow Jones index, showing the risks of online disinformation for the financial sector as well. With the arrival of Elon Musk, Twitter’s new management fuels the debate.

Yes, because if the fake news instantly went viral, it’s also due to a flaw in Twitter’s account verification system. At around 4 pm (Italian time) on May 22, a “Bloomberg Feed” account, whose name and logo resembles the authorized press agency, posted a photo of a burning building claiming to be the Pentagon. “The Big Bang Near the Pentagon Complex in Washington, DC – Initial Report.” In short, the post was reinstated by other accounts, including that of Russia Today, which is considered the Kremlin’s armed information (or disinformation) arm.

About twenty minutes later, still on Twitter, local firefighters innkeeper a post in which they openly denied the news, while several users point out that the building in the photo is not the Pentagon. The firefighters’ reaction was enough to curb speculation in the financial markets: Between the publication and refutation of false news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 500 billion points, down 85 points, according to experts Nos consulted. dollar. Of course, the markets’ rebound was just as sudden, but there was speculation.

Twitter suspended the account. But that hasn’t stopped Musk’s critics from attacking his new administration. By taking over social media in the name of spending scrutiny, Musk significantly reduced the team responsible for verifying accounts, replacing natural persons with an automated check system, and imposing the obligation to pay for the famous “blue check.” It is used to guarantee the authenticity of accounts. According to experts, the case of fake news at the Pentagon shows that Twitter is more exposed to being a tool of disinformation today than it was in the past. Moreover, with the increasingly rapid spread of artificial intelligence.

Source: Today IT

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