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On 29 April 2016 the web site News4KTLA published an article reporting that a teen boy died of a heart attack after doing a 60 minute masturbation challenge on social media: The claim's traction on social media was likely in large part due to the web site's appropriation of Los Angeles-area outlet KTLA's call letters in its name, a trick used by several fake news sites to mimic local news affiliates and lend credence to outlandish stories. Also, News4KTLA (predictably) has no disclaimer warning readers its content was fabricated — its About page says it features local news for southern Louisiana and the surrounding area. The site is similar to many fly-by-night fake news purveyors using visual and call-letter elements to dupe social media users into spreading misinformation. However, the site managed to spread at least three hoaxes previously: one claiming that a woman cut off a rapist's genitals and fed them to him, another blaming the Flint water crisis on corpses in the river, and a third fabrication involving a Dasani recall over clear parasites.
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