{"id":7198,"date":"2023-05-30T17:35:36","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T17:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=7198"},"modified":"2023-05-31T05:12:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T05:12:25","slug":"altered-tweet-targeting-us-ambassador-julie-chung-linking-to-natasha-edirisooriya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/altered-tweet-targeting-us-ambassador-julie-chung-linking-to-natasha-edirisooriya\/","title":{"rendered":"Natasha`s Controversial Statements Have Not Been Endorsed by US Ambassador to SL, Julie Chung!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung<\/a>, is an active figure on Twitter and has regularly expressed views of the US government on crucial social and political matters related to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, recently, she has often become a victim of false propaganda. Following a prototype similar to past falsehoods, we recently noticed a wave of altered screenshots targeting Julie Chung on the recently remanded stand-up comedian Natasha Edirisooriya. Let\u2019s look at the viral Tweets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The purported Tweet claimed that US Ambassador Julie Chung had endorsed the controversial statement of stand-up comedian Natasha Edirisooriya over Buddhist beliefs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The edited message, as seen below, created in English, states that the US Ambassador wished that Natasha was waving the star-spangled banner (a reference to the US flag) as she needled Buddhists and that Natasha\u2019s actions had validated the US decision to fund outfits such as SLVlog through the IREX program!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most social media users had intended the purported Tweet to be a parody seen by sarcastic remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fact Check<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

First, we checked the official Twitter handle of the US Ambassador<\/a> Julie Chung and Twitter archives but could not find any Tweets similar to the satirically altered ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key giveaway was that Ambassador Chung\u2019s official Twitter handle now carries a grey checkmark, indicating that the Twitter account represents a government\/multilateral organisation or a government\/multilateral official. However, the altered Tweet carries the blue tick, which was earlier used to signify a verified account. More on profile labels and checkmarks on Twitter here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also contacted the US Embassy in Colombo, who confirmed that Julie Chung had not posted such Tweets and that these were clearly part of a targeted campaign to mimic the US Ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the US Ambassador had been targeted numerous times on such misinformation campaigns covered as parody, we noticed that Ms Julie Chung pinned one of her Tweets from August 2022 to her Twitter handle, which said, \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>