It looks as though one blogger is going to learn the meaning of “responsible journalism” the hard way, after America’s Stock and Exchange Commission announced it is investigating false claims that Steve Jobs had a heart attack last week.
The allegations, made on CNN’s social news network iReport on Friday, caused Apple stocks to briefly plummet 10 per cent – but now the SEC is looking into the rumours to see if they were started maliciously by traders.
Jobs’ health has suffered from rampant speculation since he underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004, culminating in Bloomberg accidentally announcing his death in August. Anyone with knowledge of the industry would know the impact of saying the Apple founder’s ticker is on the blink, so it’s highly suspicious.
CNN has turned over all the details they have on the rumour-monger, “Johntw”, to the SEC. It’ll now track him down and figure out whether it was a malicious rumour or simple case of tittle-tattle gone wrong. Given the SEC’s powers to dole out hefty fines, we reckon it’s a timely reminder that what’s written on the net does have repercussions. Bloggers beware!
TBC | £TBC | Apple
Tags: Apple, Steve Jobs