Chinese media outlets are the latest victims of "fake news" after falling for a satrical Trump story and publishing it as the real deal.
The story in question, from the New Yorker's "Borowitz Report" (written by satirist Andy Borowitz) claimed Oval Office insiders confirmed that a bathrobed US President Trump ordered aides Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer to wrap all White House phones in tin foil.
Despite being clearly labeled as satire, Xinhua-run site Reference News republished the item as a real news story in Chinese on Tuesday, using the headline "Trump Turns White House Upside-Down Looking for Signs of Obama: ‘He’s Still Here Somewhere, I Know It."
The satire piece was also published on Caijing, Phoenix News, Sina and Tencent.
This isn't the first time Chinese state media has fallen for satire. In 2012 People's Daily infamously fell for an Onion article claiming that Kim Jong-un had been named the sexiest man alive.
And in 2014, the same paper fell for a fake 'giant squid' photo.
That's embarrassing.
[Top image via Sides in Space]
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