The Associated Press mistakenly published a story Wednesday about General Electric Co. that was based on a fake press release.
The fake release said that General Electric, responding to criticism over the amount of taxes it pays, would repay a $3.2 billion tax refund for 2010 to the Treasury Department.
The fake release, which was emailed to the AP, included a GE logo and a link to a website designed to look like GE’s website. The AP published a 90-word story based on the release. Thirty-five minutes later, AP withdrew the story and advised its customers that the story was a hoax.
“The AP did not follow its own standards in this case for verifying the authenticity of a news release,” said AP Business Editor Hal Ritter.
Two activist groups, US Uncut and The Yes Men, took responsibility for the hoax, according to Igor Vamos, who identified himself as a member of the Yes Men. The groups sought to raise awareness of corporate tax policies that they consider unfair, especially at a time when the government is having difficulty funding social services.
In October 2009, members of the Yes Men staged a news conference to falsely announce that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had reversed its stance on climate change legislation.
This is what The Associated Press wrote based on the fake press release:
Facing criticism over the amount of taxes it pays, General Electric announced it will repay its entire $3.2 billion tax refund to the US Treasury on April 18.
GE uses a series of foreign tax havens that the company says are legal and that led to an enormous refund for the 2010 tax year.
The company earned $11 billion in 2010 on revenue of $150 billion.
The company, based in Fairfield, Conn., plans to phase out tax havens over 5 years and said it will create one job in the US for each new job it creates overseas.