NBA superstar Kevin Durant was the latest to feel the impact of a trend that’s both not new but frightening.
Like many others, Durant came across a tweet from a fake account of a popular account in the NBA Twittersphere. The @TheNBACentral account has gained fame and a significant presence on Twitter since its inception and has over 1.2 million followers. This one, however, was authored by “@TheNBACentel.”
The tweet in question came from the account, which read like… a pretty normal-looking quote. Its deception was the biggest issue here, of course.
(We won’t post the tweet because it’s a fake quote)
Off the bat, there are a lot of issues here, but first and foremost: There are 6.3 million views on the tweet as of writing. 6,300,000 different views of a fake quote falsely attributed to an NBA superstar. And, also, just for fun: Falsely credited to Boardroom, a media company the NBA champion founded. If that doesn’t sound bleak, the word might need to be redefined.
Often outspoken, especially online, KD took to Twitter to respond to the situation.
“We’re reaching dangerous territory,” he said in response to a tweet that read, “Isn’t this a fake quote? With 5 million views & thousands of comments. Wild.”
We’re reaching dangerous territory https://t.co/fX3F0Tscle
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 13, 2023
In response to KD, we might already be there. This is not the first notable instance where somebody got duped by a fake account. This time, at least, a network didn’t run with it.
But needless to say, a media literacy problem exists–a BIG media literacy problem. And it’s just not getting any better.
