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  • 2015-12-14 (xsd:date)
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  • Has ISIS Issued a Fatwa to Kill Puppies? (en)
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  • In mid-December 2015, the web site What Does It Mean? published a story claiming that ISIS had issued a fatwa for the mass killing of American puppies: While What Does It Mean? claimed that the report came from Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate General Staff of the Armed Forces (GRU), we could find no record of the GRU's supposed warning. Similarly, WDIM? claimed that the fatwa was issued in the pages of an ISIS magazine called Dabiq. While Dabiq is a real magazine, the latest issue was more concerned with the Paris attacks than killing puppies. While the WDIM? article is full of links to additional reading material, none of these links direct the reader to information which could back up WDIM?'s claim. For instance, instead of linking to the General Staff of the Armed Forces' supposed warning about a fatwa for killing puppies, the link redirects people to a general page about the Russian military. Similarly, WDIM? linked to a general page about the magazine Dabiq instead of to proof that the most current issue contained the alleged fatwa. This is a common tactic among fake news purveyors. Articles with links appear to be more credible and since readers frequently forgo additional research, they are able to trick people into believing that all of their information has been properly sourced. In this case, What Does It Mean? provided no proof that Isis had issued a fatwa on the mass murder of American puppies. This isn't too surprising since a disclaimer on WDIM? warns readers that they should not assume that any information on the web site is accurate: The web site goes on to say that some of its articles are completely fabricated: The claim that ISIS had issued a fatwa for the mass murder of puppies comes from an unreliable source that frequently publishes fictional material. [article-meta] (en)
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