Publisher explains the satirical nature of the news piece

Aug 14, 2014 11:50 GMT  ·  By

The fake piece of news informing that a police officer caused the death of a 3-month-old infant who was breastfed by her mother in a bus station, spread like wildfire on social media, gathering more than a million shares on Facebook.

The reaction from the public was mostly negative and many fell for the story, putting in their two cents, sometimes in the most vehement manner.

Published by the National Report a week ago under the title “NYPD Officer Kills Baby Following Breastfeeding Argument,” the story is a satirical piece that, contrary to popular belief, is not required to be humorous, and as the author says in a response to public criticism, “nor was this particular post meant to be funny.”

National Report is conceived as a satirical publication and the posts on the website are not real. They are also responsible for the hoax news about one third of Americans being implanted with RFID chips that also made the rounds on social networking websites and stirred the spirits.

Adverse response from the readers even included death threats against National Report. However, despite the good intentions of the satirical publication to expose current social aspects through stories, such an alarming text could be used by scammers to lure unsuspecting users into accessing malicious locations.

It is a known fact that Facebook is constantly used for spreading malicious campaigns that put money in the pockets of cybercrooks by leading users to surveys or even phishing websites asking for the credentials of the social network account.

Such sensational news is the perfect bait because it touches on a sensitive subject that manages to engage a large number of users.

It is especially recommended when reading news from unknown sources to verify their legitimacy before giving them credence and/or seeking to comply with instructions promising to reveal more details on the subject.

Not checking the information with reputable news outlets is the main cause of the increased number of users falling victim to spammers and scammers. They rely on the sensational nature of the message and bet on the curiosity of the user to take them to dodgy locations on the Internet.

Allen Montgomery, publisher of the satirical piece in National Report, responded to the critics in a new post and explained the nature of the publication as well as how it operated, referring to the fact that there is no visible warning that the stories published are fictitious.