April Fool’s Day Prank by “X” Sparks Panic Worldwide
The global social media platform “X” caused global concerns with an unexpected April Fool’s prank that touched upon the privacy of its users, many of whom believed the “frightening” announcement.
The website, through its main account on “X,” stated that it would publish all private messages and drafts on the platform as part of celebrating transparency.
The tweet was posted at noon timing in the United States, allowing many users to respond to the tweet as a mere April Fool’s joke, while some chose to comment humorously on the false announcement.
The provocative tweet coincided with late hours of the evening on the other side of the world, where the first day of April had passed, and many users had forgotten about the prevalent prank.
In the Arab world, many Twitter users circulated the announcement that sparked fears among users about their privacy being shared in the public section accessible to all users.
Some Twitter users urged their followers to delete any messages or drafts containing privacy they do not wish to be seen by the public.
Naif Madkhali, one of the most prominent users of “X” in Saudi Arabia known as “Naifco,” said: “Twitter announces: in support of transparency, all your private messages, drafts, and even Bookmarks will be available to everyone… The news is strange, so it took me 3 seconds to remember that today is April 1st, and this is most likely an #AprilFool’s prank, or Fool’s Day as it is called in some cultures… a Western tradition that has become global, starting from France in 1582.”
However, Hazam Al-Sabaii, who holds a Ph.D. in software engineering, decided to wait for an official announcement from the “X” platform regarding whether their provocative tweet was just an April Fool’s joke, after initially posting: “#Important Twitter announces that direct messages (DMs) and drafts will be public for everyone. Therefore, I advise everyone to clean up their direct message accounts and drafts from any impurities.”
