The Twitter account for Yahoo News appeared to have been compromised Sunday afternoon after it sent out a tweet that briefly panicked users.
“BREAKING: EBOLA OUTBREAK IN ATLANTA! Estimated 145 people infected so far since Doctors carrying the disease were flown in from Africa,” Yahoo News tweeted to its 815,000 followers.
The message was retweeted at least 736 times in the 10 minutes it was up before Yahoo News deleted it.
“Earlier, an unauthorized tweet with misinformation on Ebola was sent from this account; please disregard that tweet,” Yahoo News said.
That tweet received more than 50 retweets before it was deleted as well. The message was reposted minutes later.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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