Fake Op-Ed Dupes NYTimes Writer and Others Over the Weekend: So Here's 'How to Spot a Hoax'

On Saturday, an op-ed appearing to be written by Bill Keller -- former Executive Editor for the New York Times who is currently a writer -- defending Wikileaks in an effort to defend journalists' rights appeared on the New York Times online. Or so it seemed. The story itself appeared to have been tweeted from Keller's account. It was then tweeted by another New York Times writer and others. From there it snowballed, as things on social media often do.

Thanks to a strongly worded tweet -- literally, it was in all caps -- from Keller within 24 hours, the op-ed was revealed as a hoax, for which Wikileaks later claimed responsibility. Read the full fake op-ed here.

As Craig Silverman on Poynter writes this hoax was planned, well plotted and, as a result, successfully executed. That said, he calls this incident an "emerging form of social hoax." Silverman points to Josh Stearns' piece on Storify showing how it all played out. Stearns chronologically curated the tweets of the news spreading on major news sources, including by the Times' Nick Bilton. Stearns then shows Keller's statement on the piece and the cascade of corrections that followed (see below):

Although Gizmodo writes the op-ed was "realistic," others like Venture Beat call it "terribly written" and not up to Keller's par. Still, many were fooled. As Stearns and others point out though, when you take a closer look at other elements surrounding the piece and how it may have gotten started, the hoax is revealed. Take the Twitter account issued the first tweet about the fake editorial, for example. It was posted by @nytkeIler. At first glance, this may look like Bill Keller's actually twitter account, but an "l" is in fact an uppercase "I". Stearns also includes that some have looked into the backend code on the "New York Times op-ed page" where the article appeared and found clues there as well. The URL itself is telling too (see below).

Check out Stearns' full post on Storify for more details on how the hoax was revealed here.

Silverman wants others to be ready to tell fact from fiction. Check out his presentation on "how to spot a hoax":