(freshrant.com) What happens when not just blogs, but news organizations lift satirical send ups out of context and report them as news?
The spoof, "Saudi King Suddenly Tries To Buy Facebook", was first posted at freshrant.com and on the Daily Kos feed January 29th. Variations of the story are now being reported as fact at various news sites throughout the Middle East, including the Tehran Times, Iran's major English language newspaper, where, at this writing, it remains posted as the number one most read article.
While at first it would seem the editors of the newspaper would have caught on since the story was first posted yesterday, it may be to these "news" organizations ideological and political advantage to pretend the Saudi monarch wants to purchase Facebook as a way to generate distrust of social networking sites.
freshrant.com has been bombarded with thousands of hits since the story went viral and took on a life of its own.
Even a Saudi denial has now appeared on an Arabic website disavowing any involvement of King Abdullah in the purchase of Facebook.
The Google translation reads: "A Saudi source said that 'news about the Saudi offer to buy the site' Facebook 'has no basis in truth.'"
But the fact remains, the story has gone viral with freshrant.com only too pleased to take the blame for this poking at the tyrannical underbelly of the corrupt and decadent House of Saud.
Which reminds me, this just in at freshrant.com: After his failure to buy Facebook and Twitter and fearing rebellion in his own country, Saudi's King Abdullah has at last granted women the right to drive electric wheelchairs, hailed as "The Saudi Woman's New Throne."