What was claimed
Boris Johnson has died.
Our verdict
Incorrect. This was claimed by a Twitter account masquerading as the BBC.
A tweet claiming the Prime Minister has died is fake
7 April 2020
“British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has died.”
Twitter account, 7 April 2020
A Twitter account impersonating the BBC has claimed that, following his hospitalisation due to Covid-19, Boris Johnson has died.
Boris Johnson has not died. This Twitter account is a fake, posing as a BBC account.
The tweet has since been deleted for violating Twitter’s rules.
Evidence the account is fake includes the fact that it claims to be the BBC Breaking News account despite being unverified. There is a verified BBC Breaking News account which has the blue tick next to it.
The Twitter handle is also a giveaway: the fake account is @BBCbreaki while the real account is @BBCBreaking.
The post was retweeted hundreds of times before being deleted, including by verified journalists in Canada and Australia.
As of the morning of 7 April, Michael Gove confirmed the Prime Minister is still in hospital.