BBC’s Head of Disinformation Fooled By Fake Wombat Memes
The Guardian published a cloying piece yesterday on Marianna Spring, the BBC’s Head of Disinformation. As expected, it was full of the usual hand-wringing about truth and integrity in journalism. In the interview, Spring admits to the one time she fell for fake news herself. Wombat memes…
Apparently, back when Australia was ablaze with wildfires, Spring began circulating memes on her Instagram showing, as she puts it, “I want to say… wombats? They were very cute and very big, and they were hiding other baby animals from the flames. I sent them to my friends, these wombats, but it later transpired the story was just complete rubbish.” She went on to lament, “It’s easy to be tricked…”
It’s not the only time Spring has been taken in by misinformation. Guido remembers when her ‘top scoop’ about Trump supporters supposedly crafting “deepfakes portraying black people as supporting the former president” turned out to just be images from a parody account. If the BBC’s disinformation guru is fooled by wombat memes, it’s hardly a shock she’s been duped by plenty more besides…
