Tweet stating that Taliban executed CNN journalist is not true, the image is of YouTuber Jordie Jordan - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 19, 2021
A post accompanying an image of a tweet from a Twitter handle that reads ‘CNN Afghanistan’ claims that the Taliban has executed CNN journalist Bernie Gores. The tweet also shares an image that it says is of Bernie Gores. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: CNN Afghanistan tweet claiming that Taliban has executed CNN journlist Bernie Gores.
Fact: No CNN journalist or for that matter any other American journalist was executed by Taliban following the Taliban takeover of the Afghan government recently. The photo in the tweet is of YouTuber Jordie Jordan. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The image of the person shared in the purported tweet is of YouTube vlogger Jordie Jordan, but not any CNN reporter. Reverse image search of the photo led us to Jordie Jordan’s YouTube channel. In fact, Jordie Jordan live-streamed a gaming video earlier today, wherein he recorded a video of him playing a video game.
Another Twitter handle that reads ‘BBC Afghanistan’ also shared the same news. These Twitter handles are not associated with CNN or BBC, since the official handles of these networks carry a blue verified mark (here & here). Further, these two handles were taken down later. The same was clarified by a former CIA agent on Twitter.
🚨These two accounts are circulating a big claim about a reporter. Neither of the accounts are verified or appear to actually be associated with @BBCNews or @CNN. They both were created in May, and one has only posted once. A few suspect domains are also circulating the claim. pic.twitter.com/NzVNWzTKeh
Also, there are no reports of any CNN journalist or for that matter any other American journalist being executed by the Taliban following the Taliban takeover of the Afghan government. Further, in correspondence with Reuters, Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications at CNN, told that ‘this is a fabricated story and a fake post.’
To sum it up, this tweet stating that the Taliban executed CNN journalist is not true and the image is of YouTuber Jordie Jordan.