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Pope Francis hoax fools all - even major news outlets

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Pope Francis' alleged selfie was discovered to be a hoax, but not until after major news outlets reported on the pontiff's first recorded selfie.

Millions around the world were fooled when a fake Instagram account for the Vatican uploaded what appeared to be the first papal selfie of Pope Frances.

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Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
12/15/2015 (8 years ago)

Published in Technology

Keywords: Pope Francis, selfie, Instagram, social media, Twitter, Vatican

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Within hours, the fake selfie received over 9,000 likes, CNN reported.

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Several large news outlets, including New York Daily News and Yahoo News, fell for the hoax and later posted retractions.

Inquisitr reported the Vatican does not even have an Instagram account, which should have been the first red flag.

After a bit of digging, it was discovered the "selfie" was actually a screen shot of the Pope taken during a video chat last year.

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Mashable called the selfie "a holy fake," adding, "The purported 'selfie' immediately raised red flags due in part to Pope Francis' typically humble nature."

The pontiff spoke of social media during his visit to the United States earlier this year. He warned people, "the root of so many contemporary situations is a kind of radical loneliness that so many people live in today. Running after the latest fad, a like, accumulating followers on any of the social networks."

Though Pope Francis spoke against social media, his official Twitter account has surpassed U.S. President Barack Obama's and rests at over 8.12 million followers.

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