In early March 2023, rumors started circulating online that billionaire philanthropist George Soros had gone missing in Geneva and that military units had been called in to find him. These rumors were false. They were based on a fabricated news report that was originally shared by a Twitter account with a profile indicating that its content is fictional and satirical.
Nevertheless, the original post was shared by scores of other accounts that gave no indication of being aware that the claim was false.
Snopes contacted Soros spokesperson Michael Vachon, who told us via email that Soros was not missing, and he had spoken to him that very morning.
Moreover, no reports surfaced in legitimate news sources to the effect that Soros was missing or that authorities were searching for him.
The profile of the originating Twitter account, @SpeculationNews, offers clues to its content being satirical without explicitly saying it. For example, some of the members of what it calls "Your Speculation News Team" pictured on the profile are fictional comedic characters. The account's slogan is "Because it's all made up anyway."
(@SpeculationNews)
Previous tweets from the account have included such fabricated stories as the claim that U.S. Rep. John Fetterman died on Feb. 26, 2023, the claim that Elon Musk had purchased the ABC TV network to shut down "The View," and the claim that "MAGA terrorists" had flown airliners into luxury apartment buildings in China built for "American Democrat elites."
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.