‘Uganda Child Rape Festival Officially Launches’ is Fake

‘Uganda Child Rape Festival Officially Launches’ is Fake
Jack Phillips
3/6/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

An article saying that a “child rape festival” has officially started in Uganda was published on a fake news site.

The article was published on Lifestyle Tabloids, which publishes “satire.”

“The inaugural Child Rape Festival was officially launched this morning by State Minister for Ethics & Integrity, Rev. Simon Lokodo,” the article reads, adding: “Cutting the ribbon to formally declare this month-long event as opened, the beaming Rev. Simon Lokodo said the festival couldn’t have come at a better time.”

According to its disclaimer, Lifestyle Tabloids publishes “fictionalized, sarcastic and unfounded satirical articles. Its content, including quotes, should in no way be interpreted as an actual record of events, unless a story specifically states so.”

“Articles published under OMG! category are written to highlight the state of nations and current affairs in a grossly exaggerated light. They are written to merely raise debate and to create a much broader platform for dialogue on serious or light-hearted issues affecting Africans,” it continues. The “Rape Festival” article was published under the OMG! section.

“Names used in our satirical pieces, unless those of public figures, celebrities, or entities, are fictional and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental, unintentional, and accidental,” the disclaimer also reads.

The “Child Rape Festival” appears to have borrowed some lines from an article by the National Report, another satire news site. That website published a fake article about an “Assam Rape Festival” in India several months ago, and it went viral.

However, the “Child Rape Festival” article got a large amount of shares on Facebook and retweets on Twitter. Many appeared to believe it.

“Disgusting,” one person wrote about the article on Twitter.

Another person wrote, “Excuse me whilst I go and cry for these poor girls. How is it being discussed so casually as if it’s normal?”

“My faith in humaity is officially DEAD!!!” tweeted another person about the satire.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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