Heads up: A fake Twitter account spreading misinformation about NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The Twitter account poses as that of The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, pictured above.
The fake account, @ggreenwild, is just one letter off from Greenwald's actual handle, @ggreenwald. The fake account gained steam Wednesday morning after several journalists retweeted its claim that Snowden was "confirmed dead."
The account then tweeted a clearly false story, claiming Snowden had been killed in a drone strike in Hong Kong -- a claim so wild that most careful observers quickly realized the account was fake.
Apologies, that was a fake account— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) June 12, 2013
Fake account --> RT @ggreenwild: CONFIRMED: Edward Snowden is dead.— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) June 12, 2013
After it was debunked, the "Greenwild" account quickly became a Twitter meme:
Glenn Greenwild is on the garcinia cambogia diet.— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) June 12, 2013
Glenn Gone Greenwild— Post-Landfill Poet. (@landfillpoet) June 12, 2013
Into the Greenwild #fakegreenwaldmovies— Markham Nolan (@markham) June 12, 2013
Glenn Greenwild is so much more fun than Glenn Greenwald.— David Weiner (@daweiner) June 12, 2013
The real Greenwald, whose byline has appeared on The Guardian's recent NSA reporting, has been busy calling out fake Snowden accounts.
One last time: this account is fake: @ejosephsnowden— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 12, 2013