AFP corrects misleading story that suggested Russia tampered with US election vote
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
"US sanctions Russia over vote hacking," read an AFP headline.
The Obama administration leveled sanctions against Russia on Thursday for election-related hacking. But there is no evidence that Russian hackers broke into election systems to change vote totals. The White House and US intelligence agencies have only accused Moscow of hacking the Democratic National Committee and political operatives.
The AFP later corrected its headline to read: "US punishes Russia over election hacks."
An editor's note was not attached to the story. In a short phone conversation with Business Insider, Chris Lefkow, chief North America editor for AFP, declined to say his publication made an error publishing the initial headline.
Lefkow said critics were reading the headline too "literally." He then hung up the phone amid further questioning.
Critics had, indeed, seized on the AFP's initial headline to go after the news outlet. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, tweeted, "Some news outlets appear to want their readers to (incorrectly) think Russia tampered with vote totals."
Others replied to the AFP's story on Twitter and accused it of propagating "fake news."
Since President-elect Donald Trump's unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president, many in the media have focused on the prevalence of "fake news" and how it could have swayed some individuals to vote for the Republican businessman.
Conservatives have met the narrative with extreme skepticism. They argue that, while not fabricated out of thin air, much of the news reported by the so-called mainstream media is inaccurate or, as they characterize it, its own form of "fake news."
- Global stocks rally even as Sensex, Nifty fall sharply on Friday
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market