A YouTube employee at headquarters during Tuesday’s shooting had his Twitter account hacked by someone who used it to tweet misinformation in the incident’s aftermath.
YouTube product manager Vadim Lavrusik used his verified Twitter account to post updates about Tuesday’s shooting moments after he heard shots ring out inside the company’s headquarters in San Bruno, California.
“Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers,” Mr. Lavrusik tweeted to his nearly 40,000 Twitter followers Tuesday afternoon, minutes after authorities first received calls of shots fired. “Safe. Got evacuated it. Outside now,” he tweeted 16 minutes later.
Mr. Lavrusik’s account was subsequently hijacked within moments by a hacker who used the access to broadcast misinformation in the shooting’s aftermath, however.
“PLEASE HELP ME FIND MY FRIEND I LOST HIM IN THE SHOOTING,” the hacked Lavrusik account tweeted along with a link to a picture of Daniel Keem, or “Keemstar,” a popular YouTube personality. Mr. Keem tweeted throughout the shooting and has not been linked to the incident by authorities.
“my name is so gay honestly,” the hacked Lavrusik account tweeted minutes later, according to screenshots published by CNET.
Several fellow Twitter users flagged the activity as suspicious, and CEO Jack Dorsey personally responded within minutes, tweeting: “We’re on it.”
Both tweets were quickly deleted afterwards, albeit not without being shared a combined total of at least 74 times in four minutes, CNET reported.
Twitter is “aware of attempts by some people to deceive others with misinformation around this tragedy. We are tracking this and are taking action on anything that violates our rules,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
“In emergency situations, we may require someone to delete a Tweet if it could place someone in imminent danger. Today’s shooting is one of those situations. Additionally, and as always, we will take action on content that intends to incite harm against a protected category or abuse others as outlined in our rules on hateful conduct and abusive behavior,” Twitter said.
Mr. Lavrusik announced he gained access to his Twitter account later Tuesday and publicly thanked Mr. Dorsey for his help.
Mr. Keem did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Suspected shooter Nasim Aghdam injured several people at YouTube headquarters before taking her own life Tuesday, according to authorities.
“She was upset with some of the practices or policies that the company had employed,” Ed Barberini, the chief of police in San Bruno, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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