Disinformation

Do you remember the tale of 25,000 lesbian lumberjacks living together in northern Sweden? Chako Paul City, as the story goes, was guarded with an iron resolve to prevent any men from entering the city. Those daring enough to try were beaten to death, while any woman returning to the city had to undergo a ceremonial wash before reentry. This was, of course, utter nonsense. This story was fabricated by a journalist from the newspaper Xinhuanet. To be clear, this was not intended as a satirical piece. This story took on a life of its own, rapidly spreading like wildfire leading leading to Swedish tourism websites crashing and causing internet service providers in China to grind to a halt due to the flood of traffic. ...