(Credit: Sony)
Belgian police haven’t found a Playstation 4 at the residence of the Paris attackers, so all those stories saying the terrorists used PS4s to communicate are bogus, The Verge reported.
The Playstation claims originated in a Forbes magazine article, according to The Verge, that now carries a correction because it was wrong. Forbes has updated its headline, which now reads: “How Paris ISIS Terrorists May Have Used PlayStation 4 To Discuss And Plan Attacks [Updated]”
The Forbes correction reads:
“Correction: It has not been confirmed, as originally written, that a console was found as a result of specific Belgian terror raids. Minister [Jan] Jambon was speaking about tactics he knows ISIS to be using generally.”
“This was actually a mistake that I’ve had to edit and correct,” Forbes‘ Paul Tassi told The Verge. “I misread the minister’s statement, because even though he was specifically saying that PS4 was being used by ISIS to communicate, there is no public list of evidence of what was found in the specific recent raids. I’ve edited the post to reflect that, and it was more meant to be about discussing why or how groups like ISIS can use consoles. It’s my fault, as I misinterpreted his statement.”
Gawker-owned Kotaku pointed out another issue with the Forbes story: it cited Belgian federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon’s comments about ISIS using the Playstation to communicate, but the comments were made prior to, not about, the Nov. 13 attacks.
In light of the correction and Jambon’s comments having been made before the attacks, “that leaves us with no evidence linking the PlayStation 4 or Sony networks to the Paris attacks,” The Verge reported.
iMediaEthics has written to Forbes reporter, Tassi, for further comment.
NPR also collected a handful of errors in the media in reporting on the Paris attacks, including the fake photo of Canadian man Veerender Jubbal that was Photoshopped to add a suicide vest and The Koran to an August photo of him. A Madrid newspaper published the doctored photograph on its front page, falsely claiming Jubbal was one of the attackers. Jubbal called for all outlets that wrongly linked him to the attacks to apologize.
