Cuba criticises Twitter over Fidel rumours

5 Jan 2012, 7:42 am   -   Source: AAP
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Cuban state media has criticised Twitter for helping spread a rumour that former leader Fidel Castro had died.

Cuban state media has accused the social networking site Twitter of helping spread a rumour that former leader Fidel Castro had died, and criticised anti-Castro expatriates it dubbed "necrophiliac counter-revolutionaries" for jumping on the story.

An article on the state-run Cubadebate website accused Twitter of allowing an account holder with the sign-on "Naroh" to start the rumour on Monday from an Italian server, then quickly deactivate the account.

It said Twitter then helped spread the disinformation by allowing the hash tag "fidelcastro" to become a trending topic. It briefly became the fourth most popular in the world as it drew many more people to the subject.

The site also accused Twitter of censoring subjects in the past that were in favour of the Cuban government.

There was no immediate reaction from Twitter.

Rumours that a celebrity or other public figure is dead are common on social media sites and can spread quickly because of their nature.

Cubadebate also blamed anti-Castro expatriates anxious to see Castro's demise for gleefully furthering the rumour, saying "necrophiliac counter-revolutionaries, aided by some media, immediately started to party".

Castro, 85, turned power over to his brother Raul in 2006 during an illness that nearly killed him. He is officially retired, although he occasionally publishes opinion columns.

In recent months, Castro has alluded to the limits of age but has also taken pride in his longevity. Cuba boasts that along with besting the actuarial tables, the former Cuban leader has survived hundreds of assassination attempts at the hands of his enemies in the United States.

Cubadebate noted that a false story about Castro's demise was spread on the internet and elsewhere back in August.

On that occasion, there was even a computer virus embedded in a spam email titled "Fidel is Dead", which featured a doctored, grainy photograph of the former Cuban leader that appeared to show him lying in a coffin.

As usual, the Cuban government has declined to make any official comment about Castro's health. But the former leader hasn't been silent. On December 31, he sent a get-well letter to a Cuban baseball star that was read over state television.

Cubadebate on Wednesday reiterated a refrain it used the last time the Castro rumours began, saying that the latest hubbub was spread by "people inventing things in the virtual world that even the CIA could not accomplish in real life".

AP d

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