{"id":4225,"date":"2022-09-05T07:05:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T07:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=4225"},"modified":"2022-09-08T01:52:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T01:52:10","slug":"series-of-satirically-edited-fake-tweets-targeting-us-ambassador-julie-chung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/series-of-satirically-edited-fake-tweets-targeting-us-ambassador-julie-chung\/","title":{"rendered":"Series of Satirically Altered Tweets targeting US ambassador to SL, Julie Chung!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung<\/a> is active in Twitter and has regularly expressed views of the US government, on crucial social and political issues related to Sri Lanka. However, recently we noticed a wave of sarcastically edited screenshots, linked to Julie Chung, getting shared widely among Sri Lanka social media users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at some of these claims first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Posts<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The purported Tweet claimed that US Ambassador Julie Chung had visited IUSF (Inter University Students’ Federation) convener Wasantha Mudalige, who is currently being detained. The satirical message seen below, created in Sinhala, added that Wasantha was looking pale which meant that he was not getting a nutritional diet, hence Ms. Julie Chung offered him dried meat and bottle of honey, which he gladly accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/a> | Archived<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The viral message was shared among number of social media users as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Text\n\nDescription<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We noticed yet another screenshot of a satirical Twitter message, this time linking US Ambassador to Opposition Leader, claiming that Ms. Julie Chung had to rush to Vjitha Yapa bookshop after a meeting with Sajith Premadasa, to buy the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/a> | Archived<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We checked the official Twitter handle of the US Ambassador<\/a>, as well as Twitter archives but could not find any Tweets similar to the satirically altered ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesman of US Embassy in Colombo also confirmed that Julie Chung had not posted such tweets, and this was clearly a targeted campaign to mimic the US Ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to these satirical Tweets, the US Ambassador had also made a statement from her official Twitter handle stating that \u201cFake tweets mimicking my account have been spreading on social media. If you ever have any doubts about my statements, please look directly at my verified account. Fake news – and fake tweets – are a real problem. Don\u2019t be misled\u201d <\/em>as seen below<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fake tweets mimicking my account have been spreading on social media. If you ever have any doubts about my statements, please look directly at my verified account. Fake news – and fake tweets – are a real problem. Don\u2019t be misled.<\/p>— Ambassador Julie Chung (@USAmbSL) August 29, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>