Twitter: citizen journalists’ tool of choice — for better and for worse.
Much like the attacks that struck Brussels and Paris earlier this year, Nice’s Bastille Day carnage, which killed 84 people and injured more than 100 according to the latest death toll, attracted its share of rumors and hoaxes.
Spread intentionally or not, as soon as the attacks unfolded false alerts began circulating widely on Twitter, riling French authorities who were forced to issue several call-to-orders on the messaging platform.
One from the French Ministry of Interior asked users to refrain from sharing content “without having verified sources” to avoid “spreading rumors,” and the National Police asked Twitter users to exercise “judgment” and to not relay false information that could disturb police work.
#Nice Ne partagez pas des contenus sans en avoir vérifié la source pour ne pas contribuer à la diffusion de rumeurs #Nice06
— Ministère Intérieur (@Place_Beauvau) July 14, 2016
[#Nice] Merci de faire preuve de discernement et de ne pas relayer les #rumeurs qui perturbent le travail des policiers.
— Police Nationale (@PoliceNationale) July 14, 2016
Here are some of the worst rumors that circulated online throughout the evening.
False hostage taking
No — no hostages were detained in the wake of the truck attack on the Promenade des Anglais. This false information nonetheless spread like fire on Twitter and was broadcasted on several television channels. At the heart of the rumor were the Buffalo Grill restaurant, the Negresco and Le Meridien Hotel — three popular tourist spots on the beachfront.
The Ministry of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, had to clarify the situation:
#Nice Il n'y a pas de prise d'otage (@PHBrandet porte-parole ministère)
— Ministère Intérieur (@Place_Beauvau) July 14, 2016
According to Nice Matin, the rumors may have been fueled by the precautionary measures taken by a number of hotels and restaurants, which had closed their doors to protect their clients.
Calls for help
Social networks have become critical tools to coordinate searches for missing persons and in many respects, they proved effective on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, they also were plagued by bad jokes. Some netheads with a questionable sense of humor thought it’d be fun to publish false calls to witnesses — many of which ended up being relayed by official accounts.
In this example, a man thought it’d be smart to troll the Gendarmerie [Police Guard] by sending this bogus tweet signaling he was looking for his brother. The picture of his “brother” turned out to be completely fabricated, thanks to a photo used by other jokesters after the Orlando killings, Egypt Air’s plane crash and the bombing of the Istanbul airport.
https://twitter.com/desquiciadown/status/753721611296006144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Other tweeps, thankfully, had the gumption to call out false “missing family member” posts.
Please be careful of “missing family member” posts in #Nice. Some are fake. pic.twitter.com/rpDt9vJSNK
— reported.ly (@reportedly) July 14, 2016
And last but not least:
The Eiffel Tower on fire
A simultaneous attack in Paris? Nope — wrong there too.
While a fire did occur close to the Eiffel Tower, it had nothing to do with the events in Nice or any other attacks, despite what was suggested by frantic and distraught tweets.
Incendie en bas de la tour effeil le 14 juillet pic.twitter.com/u1NGYyDcnr
— Alice Molga (@MolgaAlice) July 14, 2016
The source of the fire was a truck, parked not far from the iconic tower, as stated by Paris’ police prefecture: “No fire at the #EiffelTower.” An accidental fire occurred at the Pont de Iena. It is now extinct.”
Ne propagez pas de fausses rumeurs. Aucun incendie à la #TourEiffel. Un incendie accidentel de camion a eu lieu pont d'Iéna. Il est éteint.
— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) July 14, 2016