A Twitter account associating itself with Fox News is issuing legal threats to anyone who posts tweets that mock the cable news outlet. But the account is not official, a Fox News spokesperson told the Washington Examiner media desk.
“It’s a fake account,” the spokesperson said.
The account “@FoxNewsPress” surfaced over the weekend in response to a hashtag that made fun of a recent segment on Fox News. The segment involved author Steve Emerson, who writes books on terrorism, claiming that there are certain “no-go” zones for non-Muslims in Europe, including Birmingham, which he wrongly claimed is a “totally muslim” city.
The segment launched #FoxNewsFacts on Twitter, wherein critics of the news channel attributed sometimes humorous, though false, assertions to Fox. “You are not allowed to eat anything during daylight in Ramada Inns,” one person tweeted with the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts.
The fake @FoxNewsPress account then emerged Sunday to apparently further mock Fox. It began responding to many of the #FoxNewsFacts tweets with legal threats. “This has not come from @FoxNews team,” a typical threat would read. “Remove or face legal recourse.”
The account was an apparent jab at Fox’s reputation among journalists for having a particularly hostile public relations department.
For his part, Emerson did eventually apologize for his statements on Fox. “I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry,” he told the Telegraph. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error.
