CBC's Ian Hanomansing responds after fake news about him shows up as an ad on X

A series of bizarre fake ads have been making rounds on X and targeting well-known Canadians, with CBC’s Ian Hanomansing being the latest victim.

In early January, X users in Canada pointed out that they were seeing misleading ads about author and host Mary Berg, whom you may recognize as the winner of the third season of MasterChef Canada and the host of The Good Stuff on CTV.

Berg is known for her easy-to-follow recipes and cheerful demeanour on TV, but the ads showcased neither; instead, they falsely claimed that she had been arrested.

Easily the weirdest type of ad twitter is serving me now is this: badly photoshopped images of a tv host getting arrested. This isn’t real, Mary Berg has done nothing except wear cool glasses and cook stuff on tv. But apparently you can now use Twitter ads to smear people. pic.twitter.com/rW32tpLzFX

— Steve Boots (@steve_boots) January 5, 2024

Berg has not yet commented publicly about the fake ads, but her show’s official X account posted the following on January 5.

We are aware of the ongoing issue of fake advertisements targeting Mary Berg. We encourage our followers to remain vigilant against these deceptive ads and report suspicious content to the platform they’re using.

— The Good Stuff with Mary Berg (@TheGoodStuffCTV) January 5, 2024

On Wednesday, lawyer and TV journalist Hanomansing thanked his followers after they reported false ads about him.

“Ian Hanomansing interrupted interview at the CBC. HE HAD TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY,” read a screenshot of one such ad, claiming “the last broadcast with him suddenly cut off after just 15 minutes.”

No such thing had actually happened, of course.

“Good to keep shining a light on these fake ads. The best defence against all disinformation is knowing how to spot it, so do help out people who might be susceptible,” responded Hanomansing.

“And if anyone does know what’s going to happen to me, please don’t tell me,” he jested.

Thanks for forwarding. Good to keep shining a light on these fake ads. The best defence against all disinformation is knowing how to spot it, so do help out people who might be susceptible. (And if anyone does know what’s going to happen to me, please don’t tell me😏). https://t.co/sDstl9iinW

— Ian Hanomansing (@ianhanomansing) January 31, 2024

One X user claims ads like the ones making up stories about Berg, Hanomansing, and reportedly even Howie Mandel and Sophie Trudeau, are connected to crypto scams.

These fake news stories about Mary Berg are connected to a crypto scam. I actually fell into the trap last year. They still call me at least once a week.

They used to use Elon Musk to attract the marks. You may have seen Quantam AI ads saying invest $250 and get rich. https://t.co/Hy5tb3gyuY

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) January 5, 2024

After Elon Musk took over X, several controversial changes have been introduced to the website that many users have called out for lacking transparency and promoting misinformation.

In October, Mashable reported that X rolled out a new “clickbait” ad format that doesn’t allow users to retweet or “like” the advertisement posts. The posts aren’t even marked as an ad, and it doesn’t disclose the organization that published them.

According to X’s manipulation and spam policy, users are not permitted to “use X’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behaviour that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience or platform manipulation defences on X.”

X adds that it “does not allow spam or other types of platform manipulation.”

Daily Hive has contacted CBC and Hanomansing and will update this story when they respond.

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With files from Simran Singh