A Twitter account with the handle @MinRonaAmbrose wrote a series of tweets that claimed Rona Ambrose, the current minister of health, was resigning her post and not seeking re-election.
The account is fake, and has now been suspended. One reason it gained attention is that @MinRonaAmbrose is the old Twitter handle used by the minister. She changed it to @RonaAmbrose in late May. Someone grabbed the old name and used it to spread a hoax.
Shortened my Twitter handle/username to @RonaAmbrose today!
Prior to sending the resignation tweets, the fake handle had been tweeting out real details about the minister's activities, thus making it seem like a credible account.
As a result, some treated the tweeted resignation as real.
@MinRonaAmbrose For once you have made a correct decision.
@MinRonaAmbrose your legacy is how ideology can try to crush individual rights for some of the most vulnerable Canadians. #cdnpoli
Apparently, a number of us were punk'd by the fake (and now suspended) @MinRonaAmbrose Twitter account. Oh, well ...
Eventually, some people spoke up and called out the hoax.
Hi #cdnpoli: @MinRonaAmbrose is not @RonaAmbrose. She mysteriously changed her Twitter handle & someone else snapped it up.
Journalist Andrew Coyne had some fun with the fact that the fake account had birthed some false rumors about Ambrose.
@kady @MinRonaAmbrose SUSPENDED FROM CABINET??? Wait till I tell EVERYBODY…
Some wondered whether the minister's new handle indicated other changes to come in her career.
The federal health minister has changed her Twitter handle from @MinRonaAmbrose to @RonaAmbrose. Should we read anything into that?