AAP FACTCHECK – Fake news headlines about celebrity and company boycotts of states Donald Trump won in the US election are being shared on social media as if they’re authentic.
The headlines, however, can be traced back to articles published by self-described satire websites SpaceXMania and Esspots.
Facebook posts claim US pop superstar Taylor Swift, who endorsed the president-elect’s opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, is boycotting “red states”.
Other posts claim fellow pop superstar Beyonce Knowles is also snubbing states that weren’t won by her preferred candidate, Harris.
However, the headline about Swift and the one about Knowles were initially published on self-described “satire” websites.
AAP FactCheck previously reported that Pakistani content creator Muhammad Shabayer Shaukat ran both websites.
Mr Shaukat said at the time his articles – most of which are generated by artificial intelligence (AI) – were deliberately celebrity- and politics-focused in order to drive user engagement and generate ad revenue using a network of social media pages he also operated.
Stories published on his websites and Facebook pages are labelled “SATIRE”.
Neither Swift nor Knowles have publicly announced any boycott of states based on which presidential candidate won them in the election.
Knowles isn’t currently touring, and Swift only has dates in Canada remaining on her Eras tour.
The final US performance of the tour was in Indianapolis on November 3, two days before the election.
Facebook posts, however, feature headlines from the fake articles about Swift’s supposed “Blue States Only” tour, and others share incorrect headlines about Knowles, without satire labels.
Other fake articles published on Mr Shaukat’s websites and Facebook pages are being shared as authentic news in posts about Barbara Streisand, Robert de Niro and Bruce Springsteen, and “movie stars” in general, emigrating from the US.
Facebook posts about Target relocating its stores from states won by Trump and other posts claiming fuel prices had fallen in Republican-leaning states were initially published by Mr Shaukat with satire labels.
AAP FactCheck, Reuters Fact Check, PolitiFact and AFP Fact Check have previously debunked posts referencing Mr Shaukat’s articles without any label or mention that they were fake.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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