Silverman CEN Memo Labels KFC Story “Confirmed Fake” And Builds “Pattern Of Behaviour” Case

This document is the printed version of the “CEN memo” attached to BuzzFeed_001485, prepared by Craig Silverman under the subheading “pattern of behaviour” as part of BuzzFeed’s investigation into Central European News and Journalism Without Borders. It is included in the Source Library as source/evidence material connected to the BuzzFeed/CEN case, the development of BuzzFeed’s allegations against CEN, and the attempt to connect disputed viral stories with Michael Leidig’s wider charity/public-interest project. The memo treats the Chinese KFC story as a “confirmed fake” and uses that conclusion to argue that the quoted material must also be fake, highlighting phrases such as “stop off” and “off sick” as supposed red flags because Silverman considered them unlikely wording for a Chinese woman in her twenties. It is relevant because it shows Silverman building a broader “pattern of behaviour” case from online debunking assumptions, translation/language judgments and selected Chinese-story examples, while later material in the same evidence chain shows the KFC story had not in fact been securely resolved as fake and that Alan White later thought the KFC woman’s quotes looked legitimate.

Source

Part of Central European News & Mike Leidig v BuzzFeed (US Second Circuit Libel Case) – BF Case Documents

Europe Media Published 1 May 2026 at 21:09 Source: 1 November 2016