STORY BEHIND THE ‘FAKE CHANCELLOR’ OF KABUL UNIVERSITY, TALIBAN, N.Y.TIMES AND CNN

Fri 01 October 2021:

Several media outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, were forced to issue clarifications after falling for a fake Twitter account claiming to be the vice chancellor of Kabul University, it emerged on Friday.

According to The National, since Sept 21, the unverified account — which claimed to belong to the newly appointed Kabul University VC Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat — has posted tweets that were quickly picked up by the Western media.

One such tweet reads: “Folks! I give you my words as the chancellor of Kabul University: as long as a real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.”

Folks!
I give you my words as the chancellor of Kabul University:

as long as real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.

— Kabul University Watch (@KabulUniWatch) September 27, 2021

The tweet quickly garnered attention and was picked up by the NYT, which highlighted the fate of women’s education under the hardline group in a full-page report, titled: ‘New Taliban Chancellor Bars Women from Kabul University’.

Did the @nytimes just publish a full page report based entirely on a fake Twitter account of the new chancellor of Kabul University? pic.twitter.com/H7zR8Vb8zP

— علی مصطفی | Ali Mustafa (@Ali_Mustafa) September 28, 2021

After point out by TRT Journalist Ali Mustufa that New York Times entire article was based on a fake Twitter account, many Twitter user react something like this:

One Twitter user said, They’re so eager & shivering in anticipation for such news, they’re dying to hear such cases or even worse. So that’s why they don’t bother to fact check or maybe they even know it’s fake but stil go ahead with posting bcoz they want to portray a certain picture of Afg. Talib 2.0

They’re so eager & shivering in anticipation for such news, they’re dying to hear such cases or even worse. So that’s why they don’t bother to fact check or maybe they even know it’s fake but stil go ahead with posting bcoz they want to portray a certain picture of Afg. Talib 2.0

— Saeed muaz (@SaeedMuaz) September 29, 2021

But…journalism?

— madeeha ansari (@madeeha_ansari) September 29, 2021

Was it #fakenews? Because I saw it being quoted everywhere as well.

— Fereehaidrees@abbtakk (@Fereeha) September 29, 2021

Well they have to somehow justify killings of innocents the last 20 years.

— Naqeebullah (@naqeeb94) September 29, 2021

No surprise! This isn’t the first time.

— Ayeshah Fatima Khan (@ayfk_329) September 29, 2021

Propaganda at its peak

— King Khan (@BadshahSindhi) September 29, 2021

Wow. Imagine the editorial checks in NY Times. No wonder Conservatives call it “fake news” and seeing this, probably rightly so!!

— Amna Rizvi (@amnamrizvi) September 29, 2021

However, in a turn of events straight out of a movie, the user operating the Twitter account later admitted that he was not the VC of Kabul University. Instead, he is a 20-year-old student at the varsity who is “broken and frustrated”, he tweeted from the same account.

In a Twitter thread, he explained how he saw no future with the Taliban in power in the war-torn country.

“I grew up in Kabul, I went to school and university, I had dreams of becoming an influential person in Afghan society and politics. But now look at what has happened with all my aspirations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NYT published an editor’s note above the article regarding the earlier version of the story.

“An earlier version of this article and its headline included comments from an individual claiming to be Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat, the newly appointed chancellor of Kabul University, saying that women would not be allowed to go to work or attend classes at the college.

“The comments included those posted to a Twitter account in Ghairat’s name. Multiple calls to the chancellor’s office and his top aide for confirmation were turned away, with the aide saying that the chancellor would not speak to the media, and referring questions to a senior Taliban spokesman, who did not deny the account’s claims,” the note said.

This editors’ note has been appended to this story. We deleted our tweet from Sept. 27 to reflect doubts about the social media posts referenced in the article. pic.twitter.com/SPmy3yF4iy

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 30, 2021

It added that the authenticity of the account was cast in doubt after the article was published. “The Times has been unable to reach the university’s chancellor to confirm his position on school policies, and the article has been edited to reflect doubts about the social media posts,” it said.

CNN ran a similar correction and also updated the story on its website.

“A previous version of this story and headline incorrectly attributed remarks to a Twitter account purporting to be the chancellor of Kabul University. CNN has subsequently learned that this account was not affiliated with the chancellor or the university. This story has been updated,” it said in a note.

A Taliban spokesman, Bilal Karimi, also told CNN on Thursday that the Twitter account was fake and rejected its content.

Additionally, Kabul University as well as the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education released statements on Facebook on Tuesday, denying that Ghairat had any social media accounts. The statements said any pages being run under his name were intended to spread fake news, according to CNN.

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