The whole stock market falls as a result of a bogus image of the Pentagon on fire
A bogus image of the Pentagon on fire has caused a momentary drop in the stock market, in a completely predicted yet damning glimpse into the future of the internet. This illustrates how critical it is to contain the AI-fueled disinformation epidemic.
The image, which was posted by the "verified" account "Bloomberg Feed" (they spent $8 for a blue tick, that's all), showed smoke rising from the Pentagon following an apparent explosion, sparking widespread talk of an impending assault. In an obvious attempt to mimic a Bloomberg piece, the title read, "Large Explosion near the Pentagon Complex in Washington D.C. - Initial Report." The account was obviously wholly bogus, and it serves as a reminder of a persistent issue with Twitter's paid verification system.
The message was quickly forwarded by well-known Twitter users with plenty of followers, which caused the picture to circulate on social media and induce fear. The markets took note since it was even shared by RT, a state-run media account in Russia with 3 million followers.
The message was posted at 10:06 am by Twitter user DeItaone, who has 650,000 followers, and by 10:10 am, or four minutes later, the stock markets had down 0.26 percent. Although not a large figure, it happened in such a short period of time, which suggests something scared the markets.
The majority of the tweets that shared the material, including both RTs and DeItaone's, have now been removed, and they have subsequently recovered, but it offers the ideal chance to get a preview of a troubling future. The building's columns are all over the place, the fence strangely bleeds into nothing, and the windows are not aligned; as a result, it is likely that someone entered a prompt into a generative AI and posted the result as a made-up story. Experts have been concerned about it since ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other services showed off their wide capabilities.
Additionally, it once again demonstrates how seriously broken Twitter's authentication process has become since it turned into a paid membership service, with only a $8 payment being sufficient to mislead the whole stock market. It is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction since completely made-up events may be turned into compelling "photographs" in a matter of seconds. As a result, verification methods are available to guide users to reliable sources.
We would ask Twitter for a response, but it seems obvious that all we would get in return is a feces emoji. Since November, when it is believed that Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, devastated it through layoffs after purchasing the firm, the company has been practically silent. That means it hasn't responded to inquiries from journalists about any of the subsequent developments, including the layoffs and mass resignations themselves, significant changes to the user experience, and a string of controversies involving Musk and his declaration that he will eventually leave his position.
NPR emailed Twitter on Monday morning seeking comment, and Twitter replied right away with the scat sign. Many Twitter users immediately criticized him and the new rules after confirming that they had successfully tried the functionality for themselves. More than 1,600 people have liked Charles Rickett's comment, "Huh, same as general user experience then," which he made as a video editor for the U.K. tabloid Metro.
After learning that 5% of Twitter's daily active users are spam accounts in May 2022, Musk decided to postpone his ambitions to acquire the social media platform. In a lengthy discussion detailing the company's attempts to prevent spam, the company's then-CEO Parag Agrawal used "data, facts, and context," to which Musk replied with a poop emoji. In its lawsuit against Musk to compel him to complete the purchase, Twitter claimed this post among others as proof that Musk had broken his non-disparagement oath to the business.
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