Reprinted with permission from the Miami Herald Online Web site,
Heraldlink, http://www.herald.com
This article was published Friday, August 2, 1996 in the Miami Herald.
In cyberspace, they call it trolling. Post something outrageous online and
see who bites. Someone went trolling last week, placing a bogus message about
the downing of TWA Flight 800, using the hot-button words "Bill Clinton" and
a credible source, "The Miami Herald."
The result: fodder for anti-government conspiracy buffs, a rumor that
spread like electronic wildfire, a flood of inquiries to The Herald - and
some questions about the power of the Internet.
"There is a lot of fear going on around that this kind of thing could have
serious ramifications," said Charles Green, a journalism professor at Florida
International University.
On July 24, a short message appeared in the alt.conspiracy newsgroup, one
of thousands of discussion forums on the Internet, about the TWA crash off
Long Island that killed all 230 people aboard.
It read: "It was reported in The Miami Herald today that two of the
passengers were former Arkansas state troopers that were on Bill Clinton's
security detail. They were on their way to Paris to be interviewed by the
LeMonde in Paris, as well as the News of the World in London."
Some ex-troopers who guarded Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas have
alleged that they helped him meet women and book hotel rooms for illicit
liaisons. Clinton has repeatedly denied the allegations.
But there were no troopers aboard the flight. The Herald never carried such a
story. Nor did any other major media.
The posting sat three days before another user calling himself Rambo copied
it to other Web sites whose addresses include telltale words like
activism.militia, survivalism and impeach.clinton.
By Thursday, the message was on at least a dozen news groups frequented by
anti-government users, and it drew immediate response. Most scoffed or
emphasized that it was an unverified report, but some swallowed the bait.
They viewed it as an extension of tragic events - which they consider
suspicious - that include the suicide of presidential adviser Vincent Foster
and the death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown in a plane crash in Bosnia.
"Read the reports," one entry says, "so far over 100 people that worked for
him in Ark. are dead."
Another rebuffs a doubter this way: "Why do you say conspiracy theory? I
thought this was a mention of a fact seen in the Miami Herald. You can make
your own conclusions."
The hoax also reached both short wave and talk radio. The Herald received
calls from Idaho, California, Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere from people
seeking copies of the article.
Robert Wilson, who does radio commentary for Wake Up America, a Washington,
D.C.-based program that broadcasts on five stations covering 20 states,
called The Herald to verify the story. He heard it on tape from another radio
show, reported as fact. Wilson called the fabrication "poisonous information
from a poisoned well."
The hoax does raise questions about the 'Net. No one can say how many bogus
messages are sent out every day, but the TWA hoax underlines how easily the
'Net can be misused.
Hilbert Levitz, a computer-science professor at Florida State University and
president of the city's free online system, says pranks have not created
widespread problems but have been mostly simple annoyances.
"It doesn't seem to be as serious as it could be, but the potential is there,"
Levitz said.
Green, the FIU professor, likens the 'Net to a street corner. "Anyone can come
along and say what they want."
Most people will take 'Net discussions with a grain of salt, but others simply
believe what they read. That poses some dangers.
"Take a company stock, for example," Green said. "Say someone posts that The
Wall Street Journal has reported that the president of a major multinational
corporation has absconded with the company funds."
There is already heated debate over the issue of privacy on the 'Net. Pranks
like this will only add fuel to the fire. Green expects the Net will
eventually have to find a way to deal with such problems. For now, though, no
one can agree on how - or if - to police the 'Net.
The Herald traced the original posting to the Internet address of Gene
Hilsheimer, who supervises a military flight simulator in Panama City.
Hilsheimer denied creating it. "Well, gosh, it's amazing what goes out there
and is picked up," said Hilsheimer, a former Homestead resident who moved to
the Panhandle after he was displaced by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. But in
electronic mail to The Herald, he played coy: "I am certain that the person
or persons who posted this . . . had no idea how many difficulties they may
have created for both of us. However, if it was a simple troll, then whoever
it was must be amazed at the effect they have had. Probably well beyond their
original expectations."
"Whoever they are, they should be ashamed of themselves and advised to pick
a more fictitious source if they ever decide to go trolling in the future."
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