Outcry as trolls spread SICK hoax about Queen's death: 'RIP'
By Anthony Blair
THOUSANDS were left horrified when #RIPQueenElizabeth began trending on Twitter as a result of an online hoax.
After trolls started the rumour that the Queen had passed away on Reddit, the fake story quickly spread to Twitter.
Some hoaxers even shared mock-ups of legitimate news articles claiming the Queen had died or even been assassinated.
The trend began earlier this week when a Reddit user calling themselves u/beefy_cabbage uploaded a meme before Christmas indicating the Queen would die on January 5
This was later deleted, but not before it received more than 50,000 upvotes on the site and spread across the internet.
SICK: The vile hoax was reportedly started on Reddit
(Pic: TWITTER/15FANDOMSCOUNTN)
TROLLS: Spoof news articles were created to spread the lie (Pic: TWITTER/ROCCO_ANDERS)
Some trolls were open about their intention to spread the fake news story about the 92-year-old monarch.
One tweeted: "Ok so I saw this thing on Reddit. If the Queen is still alive on the 5th we shall make #RIPQueen trend anyways."
Many people were taken in and believed the Queen really had passed away.
One Twitter user wrote: "I'm so confused is #RIPQueenElizabeth fake or not."
When it was discovered to be a hoax, many were outraged by the actions of those who had spread the lie.
"Okay seriously you need to stop with the fake RIPs," wrote one user, "it's not funny and it's childish."
While others despaired about the power of the internet to spread such hoaxes.
Sarah Meusel tweeted: "Last year we had Logan Paul with his corpse and now a joke is trending here about a person's fake death.
OUTRAGE: Many social media users were disgusted when they discovered they'd been duped
(Pic: TWITTER/MEUSELSARAH)
"Social media becomes more and more disgusting."
The Queen is Britain's longest-serving monarch of all time and the longest-serving female queen in history.
Only five monarchs have had longer reigns than her, with the longest being King Louis XIV of France, who reigned from May 1643 to September 1715, an astonishing 72 years and 110 days.
On February 6, she will celebrate 67 years on the throne, having succeeded her father King George VI in 1952.
The Queen is the latest public figure to be targeted by trolls in such a way after a website spread a sick death hoax about actor Michael J Fox.
