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Heute Sunbather Hoax Screenshot Used In BuzzFeed CEN Allegations

Screenshot/archive record relating to the Austrian “naked bather” or “sunbather” hoax, in which a woman was said to have caused a traffic accident in Vienna by sunbathing with her bottom out of a window. The story was originally published by the Austrian newspaper Heute after it apparently accepted reader-supplied material, but it was later exposed as false when the images were shown to have been archive photographs lifted from the internet. The item is relevant because BuzzFeed used the story as part of its case against Central European News, despite CEN not being the originator of the hoax. The story had already appeared in Austrian media before being picked up more widely, and the later discussion around it highlights the difference between originating a false story and relying on a mainstream local publication that had already published it. It also illustrates the risks of viral news chains, reader-reporter material, image verification failures, and the way later criticism can collapse those distinctions when assigning blame. The wider context is that BuzzFeed relied on online debunking of the story, but internal discussion showed uncertainty about where the original debunking material had been stored, with substitute links later being circulated. Deposition evidence also confirmed that Craig Silverman accepted the original victim of the hoax was the Austrian newspaper Heute, not CEN.

Source

Part of Central European News & Mike Leidig v BuzzFeed (US Second Circuit Libel Case) – Archived Web Screenshots

Europe Media newsX CIC Published 3 May 2026 at 13:59 Source: 16 July 2016

Tags

BuzzFeedCENCentral European NewsHeuteAustriaViennanaked bathersunbather hoaxviral newsimage verificationTinEyereader reporterfake storyAlan WhiteCraig SilvermanRobert ColvileHuffington PostViral ExaminerBuzzFeed investigationmedia sourcingtabloid newsdisclosurelibel evidence

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Credit: newsX

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SCREEN - Heute Sunbather Hoax.jpg
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