Milo Yiannopoulos falls for fake news story live on air

If you think a story about a man winning a “landmark case” against the NHS forcing the health service to provide him with a cervical smear test despite him not having a cervix sounds a little like it isn’t really real, then you’re better at spotting fake news than blogger and political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, it would seem.

Yiannopoulos reported on the story about Nathan-Grange-Vulva, a man from Essex who apparently won his case that would force the NHS to give him a cervical smear test, despite Mr. Vulva missing one fundamental feature; a cervix.

The story, posted by the satirical Southend News Network, isn’t real, of course. However, the name of Mr. Vulva wasn’t enough to give the game away for Mr. Yiannopoulos, who – unfortunately for him – live-streamed himself reporting on the fake story as if it were real to his many thousands of followers.

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“I’ve looked around… I promise this is real, it is a real thing from England” Yiannopoulos assured his viewers, stating a number of times that he had “verified” that this was indeed real news. However his verification procedures must be a tad flippant; the website features a disclaimer page that reads in part –

Southend News Network was originally started in October 2015 with no real aims or objectives in mind other than to add a satirical/spoof-like touch to issues that people are passionate about in Southend On Sea.

This isn’t the first time Yiannopoulos has fallen foul of fake news. His website has also reported on another fake story that claimed Sweden were banning Christmas decorations because they offended Muslims.

Remember, if it appears to be a little too weird to be true, it could well be; check the source for a disclaimer – the site may very well admit the content it publishes isn’t meant to be taken seriously – and read our guide on spotting fake news here.