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"Rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's death took Twitter by storm Friday.\nThe report, which originated on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo, has not been substantiated by any formal press. But that didn't stop it from going viral on the Internet. \"Kim Jong-Un\" is currently trending on Twitter and ranks sixth among Friday's top 10 Google searches.\nThe unconfirmed report suggests that Jong-Un, son of the late \"Dear Leader\" Kim Jong-Il, was assassinated in a military coup while in Beijing, China. News of an \"unusually high\" number of cars outside North Korea's embassy in China contributed to the rumor's staying power.\n\nRumors circulating on Weibo that the cars that were outside the DPRK embassy in Beijing are because Kim Jong Un is dead...\n\u2014 Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) February 10, 2012\n\nThe rumor really blew up when a fake Twitter account appearing to represent the BBC \"confirmed\" the news.\n\nConfirmed breaking news. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un assassinated. Updates to follow.\n\u2014 BBC Live News (@BBCLiveNews) February 10, 2012\n\nThe fake BBC tweet was picked up and retweeted by many users, causing more confusion about Jong-un's status. But a closer look revealed the account's lack of authenticity, and the warning bells were sounded.\n\nFake account @BBCLiveNews reporting false information about Kim Jong Un, getting retweeted like crazy. Beware.\n\u2014 Craig Kanalley (@ckanal) February 10, 2012\n\nLate Friday afternoon, all of the faux BBC account's previous tweets were deleted, leaving only an admission that the account was a fake.\n\nThe tweet from this account about Kim Jong Un was fake. The entire account is fake.\n\u2014 BBC Live News (@BBCLiveNews) February 10, 2012\n\nAccording to Matthew Keys, deputy social media editor at Reuters, access to Twitter accounts that are \"engaged in non-parody impersonation\" can be revoked and given to the brand being impersonated.\nReliable news about North Korea is notoriously difficult to find, as the government is secretive and disallows access to foreign press. However, a senior U.S. official told NBC News Friday that the Jong-un death rumor runs toward \"the false end of the spectrum.\"\nMashable cannot confirm the accuracy of the rumors, but this isn't the first time that Twitter has \"killed\" someone. Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Fidel Castro are just a few celebrities who have been able to paraphrase Mark Twain and declare that the Twitter-based rumors of their deaths were greatly exaggerated.\nWhat do you think the Kim Jong-Un death rumor says about the nature of breaking news on Twitter? Sound off in the comments below.\nImages courtesy of Flickr, zennie62\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/10/kim-jong-un/>