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False Rumors About Free Flights to Haiti Spread Wildly on Twitter

by Caleb Johnson on January 15, 2010 at 06:30 AM

With countries, organizations, and companies scrambling to provide aid to Haiti after the crippling earthquake struck near the nation's capital, the relief effort was bound to be a trending topic on Twitter. But with all the positive tweets letting folks know how to help, a string of negative ones flooded the social-networking site, too.

According to CNN, false rumors spread Thursday on Twitter that some airlines, including American Airlines and JetBlue, had volunteered to fly doctors and nurses for free to help with the island country's relief efforts. "We don't know who is responsible, but it's a very low thing to do," said American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith. The rumors didn't end there, either. Another hoax on the site claimed UPS would ship any package weighing less than 50-pounds to Haiti free of charge.

In fact, UPS has donated $1-million toward relief efforts, and American Airlines and American Eagle sent three planes loaded with food, water and other nonperishable items to Haiti. JetBlue is also flying relief workers to the country. It's just a shame that the aforementioned rumors would soil the efforts of these companies.

It's up to honest Twitter users to spread the word about these hoaxes. You know, there's a difference between comedy and stupidity. This tasteless "joke" certainly falls under the latter. [From: CNN]

Tags: airlines, american airlines, haiti, haitiearthquake, hoax, hoaxes, socialnetworking, top, twitter, ups

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