PM Says

Reuters takes extensive steps during the fact-checking process. The principal aim of this unit is to fact-check visual material and claims posted on social media. Part of their commitment is to follow the IFCN Code of Principles. This involves researching the editorial value, how harmful the post is, the reach and how far the claim has traveled, as well as the balance of fact versus opinion.  

Photo Credit: Cash App exhibit at BTC Miami 2022" by CoinDesk 

In recent reports, Cash App had filed for bankruptcy. The overall issue is that CNN did not report that Cash App declared bankruptcy in September 2023, contrary to social media posts shared online. Reuters concluded that they found no evidence that Cash App declared bankruptcy as of this article’s publication. They concluded that the company was facing technical difficulties in the days leading up to the news being disclosed to the public.

It is false that CNN did not report the company’s bankruptcy. Alternatively, a representative from the company decided to send a tweet to Reuters on X to address the technical issues they were having. The horrifying part of it all is that if the company did in fact file for bankruptcy, all funds would be awarded to account holders in bankruptcy court.

USA Today also reported that Cash App claims on bankruptcy were proven to be false. An initial post on CNN stated that” “Man CNN just said Cash App went bankrupt and any funds you had in your account would have to be awarded to you through bankruptcy court”. The news went viral and was shared more than 600 times in a single day. USA Today also did some fact-checking and found the allegations to be incorrect. It turned out that the user who posted the misinformation retracted their claim to say it was not true.

Photo Credit: Timothy Clark/Facebook

The initial report of Cash App’s bankruptcy was not credible. My skepticism towards this post was based on the lack of previous reporting on the company’s financial woes. Typically, when a financial institution is facing bankruptcy, there would be numerous outlets covering and seeking statements from a company representative. Additionally, account holders would be contacted for an official statement or questioning. A study conducted by Pew Research Center concluded that when Americans see a news statement as factual, they overwhelmingly also believe it to be accurate. In addition, when incorrectly classified factual statements as opinions, they most often disagreed with the statement.

According to FiveThirtyEight, major investigative and fact-checking methods are impossible to write without named sources primarily because these sources may have a range of motives. These sources could be a disgruntled customer, a fraud victim, a competitor, or someone with biases about digital banking apps. Nonetheless, Reuters cleared the air over the misinformation surrounding Cash App’s final status by conducting thorough research, which proved to be effective in the end.