Crypto News – Earlier today, Cointelegraph‘s X account posted a story about a spot Bitcoin ETF that caused a major uproar.
Breaking News: Cointelegraph Bitcoin ETF News Is False, Platform Faces Trouble – 2023
The news went viral because the trusted news platform shared a post on X about an unconfirmed story. The platform realized its mistake before publishing an article about the news. In fact, it even deleted the tweet it posted on the subject.
However, it was too late, and everyone online was talking about the fake news. The platform then posted an apology.
Dear Cointelegraph readers,
We are incredibly grateful for the support and trust you have placed in our publication over the last 10 years. We strive to deliver the most thoughtful, engaging, and impactful news affecting the cryptocurrency space.
Earlier today, during routine coverage, Cointelegraph’s social media team posted a message on X without prior editorial approval stating that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission had approved BlackRock’s iShares spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF. This was false, the result of misinformation. The news lead originated from an unconfirmed screenshot posted by an X user who claimed it was from the Bloomberg Terminal.
Cointelegraph Team
After the fake news incident, the platform launched an internal investigation, which revealed that the standard procedure for sharing breaking news on social media was not followed. According to the procedure, the news source must be verified before sharing a news story.
How did the Incident Happen Chronologically?
The editorial team was informed of the rumored news via a Telegram channel that Cointelegraph staff members utilize to find stories that readers would find interesting. Below is a share of the entire chat.
An internal Slack channel was updated by Employee 1 with the lead text shared by a Telegram account that has since been deleted. Employee 2 posted the report to X without seeking the editor’s approval first in order to publicize the developments as soon as feasible. This goes against Cointelegraph’s social media policy, which stipulates that posts must first have editorial approval and source confirmation.
Employee 1 highlighted that the source could not be found in a Cointelegraph internal discussion. The message on X was later modified by Cointelegraph employee 3 to make it clear that the information was unverified. The post was eventually taken down by Cointelegraph after it contacted BlackRock and the Bloomberg Terminal.
To ensure that something like this does not happen again, the Cointelegraph team is thoroughly auditing and reviewing our social media management processes, especially around the authentication of breaking news before a post can be published. We are having conversations with all of the employees involved, and we will make all necessary structural changes.
This incident reminds the Cointelegraph team that our actions have serious ramifications across the cryptocurrency community. We are committed to learning from these mistakes and adhering to the highest standards of journalism.
The Cointelegraph team
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