Did an unnamed teen YouTuber plan to have an abortion live on camera and would she be taking Bitcoin donations for Planned Parenthood from viewers? Of course not, that's absolute nonsense. The story comes from a site that publishes over the top fake stories disguised as satire to rile up conservatives and Trump supporters into sharing them online so fans of the site can then mock them for it.
The story originated from an article published on April 10, 2018 by Daily World Update titled "Popular Teen YouTuber Planning 'Live On-Camera Abortion' For Bitcoin Donations" (archived here) which opened:
A popular teen YouTuber tearfully explained last week that he had gone to a party at her friend's house where she had a bit too much to drink and ended up sleeping with her friend's dad. The 14-year-old girl told her 1.3 million subscribers that she "didn't use protection" and "didn't want to get him in trouble" so she plans to have an abortion.
Rather than just get one like liberal women do every time they get pregnant, Stacey Rhodes says she wants "to use her situation to do some good." What kind of good, you ask? Well according to Stacey, she has partnered with her local Planned Parenthood office in Webark, New Hampshire to livestream the horrific procedure over YouTube for anyone to watch -- and she will be taking donations in Bitcoin.
The fact that no name is given for the girl should act as an early warning that the story is not true. In fact she is 19 and she claimed to be pregnant with Jesus on Dr. Phil, making this one of these cases where the actual story behind a photo is weirder than the fake story it is used in:
Teen Says She's Pregnant With Baby Jesus
"I am pregnant, and it is Jesus," says 19-year-old Haley. The teen claims that she is 9 months pregnant and about to deliver a baby boy. "I know my pregnancy is real. I've gained at least 22 pounds," says Haley.
The fake story also mentioned that the abortion was "scheduled for the second week of January" which would make her at least almost nine months pregnant by that time if she got pregnant last week (but it is not clear from the article if that is when she got pregnant or if that was when she revealed she was expecting).
In addition to that there is no town named "Webark" in New Hampshire so there certainly isn't a Planned Parenthood branch there.
The Daily World Update comes with a clear satire disclaimer at the bottom of each article:
sat·ire ~ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, OR ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
If you disagree with the definition of satire or have decided it is synonymous with "comedy," you should really just move along.
The owner and main writer of the site is self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has made it his full time job to troll gullible conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing his articles. He runs several other websites such as ladiesofliberty.net, shareotonin.com and dailyworldupdate.com. Sometimes he is also known under his nickname "Busta Troll". He has at least one accomplice who writes under the pen names "Freedom", "Captain Jellypants", "Butch Mannington" or "Captain Buck Atlantis".
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who often omit the satire disclaimer and any other hints the stories are fake. Blair has tried to get these sites shut down in the past but new ones keep cropping up and he keeps knocking them down.
If you see one of his stories on a site that does not contain a satire disclaimer, assume it is fake news. If you do see the satire disclaimer it is of course also fake news.
We wrote about dailyworldupdate.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Malia Obama NOT Charged With Starting The Tide Pod Challenge
- Fake News: Federal Judge Did NOT Toss Michael Cohen Warrant And All Evidence With It
- Fake News: Malia Obama NOT Suspended From Harvard
- Fake News: Ted Nugent Did NOT Declare Bankruptcy After Boycott
- Fake News: Liberal Teacher NOT Arrested in San Francisco Easter Egg Hunt : Children NOT Given Marijuana Eggs
