Actor Morgan Freeman Has Died at 80-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
It’s been rumored on Facebook that actor Morgan Freeman has died at 80.
The Truth:
False reports in October 2017 that Morgan Freeman had died came from a website that enables users to generate fabricated headlines to “prank” their friends.
The website, Channel45News.com, prompts users to plug in a headline, an image and body text. Then, the site publishes the fabricated report (like the one about Morgan Freeman dying at 80) and makes it easy for users to share a link to it on Facebook.
Once readers click on the link, they’re greeted with an image that says “You got owned!”
The website’s disclaimer states that the site does not support fake news and that its a “prank website” that is intended for fun. The issue, however, is that readers who don’t click on the stories aren’t aware that the post was intended to be a “prank.” That’s what led to false reports in October 2017 that Morgan Freeman died at 80.