On Wednesday, sorrow swept through the Futurism newsroom as we heard that Jonathan, a 193-year-old Seychelles giant tortoise believed to be the oldest living land animal, had passed away at his home on the island of Saint Helena, a remote British territory in the middle of the Atlantic.
The tragic news, which was based on an X account that claimed to be the tortoise’s owner Joe Hollins, picked up widespread media coverage, from the BBC and USA Today to the Daily Mail.
But in case it wasn’t obvious enough that the Elon Musk-owned social media platform is drowning in misinformation and scams, the claim turned out to be a complete lie, forcing media publications to issue a tidal wave of unfortunate corrections.
“An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Jonathan had died, after the BBC along with other media outlets fell for a fake social media account,” the broadcaster wrote in a notice appended to its obituary.
According to the real Hollins, it was nothing more than a “hoax.”
“IT IS NOT TRUE,” Hollins wrote in an impassioned Facebook post, since he doesn’t actually use X.
Worse yet, it looks more like a scam than an ill-conceived April Fools’ joke. As the St Helena Island-based veterinarian warned, the “hoaxer is asking for crypto donations.”
“It’s a con,” he wrote. “Please forward guys because this has spread. Even our researcher friends in the US unraveling his DNA have just sent condolences.”
The original X account, which claimed to be Hollins, tried to strike an emotional tone to attract cryptocurrency donations.
“As his vet for many years, it was an honor to care for him — hand-feeding bananas, watching him bask in the sun and marveling at his quiet wisdom,” the account wrote. “He leaves behind a legacy of resilience and longevity that inspired millions. Rest easy, old friend.”
As The Guardian reports, the post received two million views and was largely taken at face value by the media. The account appears to be based in Brazil.
The incident highlights how X continues to struggle with runaway disinformation. Musk himself has repeatedly spread fabricated news stories, including racist conspiracy theories, adding to the problem.
Crypto and phishing scams also run rampant on the microblogging site. According to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Gizmodo last year, users are getting scammed out of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, often by accounts that claim to be Musk.
The good news is that the world hasn’t lost its oldest known tortoise.
“Jonathan is asleep under a tree in the paddock,” St Helena governor Nigel Phillips told The Guardian, confirming once and for all that the tortoise is “very much alive.”
A delightful picture Phillips snapped Thursday morning shows Jonathan munching on some leaves, with an iPad in the background showing the homepage of the BBC as proof of life.
“The report of my death was an exaggeration… Mark Twain, not Oscar Wilde,” he joked, quoting the author and humorist, who was mistakenly reported by newspapers to have passed away in 1897, thirteen years before his actual death. “Jonathan would nonetheless have had the chance enjoy both their works in the original first editions.”
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