Viral lies, real consequences — the price of Facebook’s inaction

The recent experience of radio and TV presenter Pabi Moloi puts a spotlight on concerns that celebrity gossip pages on Facebook can facilitate the spread of digital disinformation and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, particularly affecting women in the media and public life.

On the It’s a Brother and a Sister podcast, Moloi directly addresses and dispels the conspiracy theories surrounding her in the episode titled “Still Alive and Better Than Ever”.

A viral death hoax and technology-facilitated harm

The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) took a closer look at how the disinformation about Moloi spread on Facebook. On 18 October, “Mzansi Celebrities”, a Facebook page with more than 2.3 million followers, posted a misleading image and message strongly implying that Moloi had died. It appears to have been the first account to post this message. The post – complete with heartbroken and dove emojis and a photo compilation – prompted some users to repost “RIP” tributes before checking the linked Celebrity Breeze article, which was about her weight loss. The post was made at 12.13pm on 18 October 2025.

The disinformation has been shared 19 times by users reposting the original Mzansi Celebrities post alone and has collected more than 190 comments. At the time of publication, there was no visible sign of moderation or intervention from Facebook.

The disinformation spread rapidly, amplified by additional gossip pages such as “Mzansi Soapies and Teaser” (copying and posting the message within one minute), “Mzansi Trending” (copying and posting within three minutes), “Mzansi Finest Celebs” (copying and posting within five minutes), “Mzansi Celebrity Pictures” and “Mzansi Celebs News”. Each of these accounts posted identical posts including the grammatical error “heavy hearty”.

Distressed, Moloi was forced to post a video denying the rumour: “Guys, I’m alive. I’m very much alive. October 20th, 2025, and I’m alive… I literally saw someone say RIP. Well, I’m going to have a ripping rest of my life and I’m still here – tell your friends.”

Cementing the lie

Another Facebook account, “Viral Trends”, actively fuelled the disinformation campaign about Moloi’s supposed death, using the same image. At 2.03pm on 18 October, the page posted an outright false claim asking “What Happened to Pabi Moloi?” and used a string of hashtags – #RIPPabiMoloi, #SouthAfricanTV, #GoneButNotForgotten, #RestInPeace, #TVPresenter, #SouthAfrica – cementing the fake narrative.

The post added to the viral spread of the death hoax, further encouraging users to believe in and share the misleading story. This amplification of falsehood highlights how quickly disinformation about public figures can circulate on Facebook, raising questions about the effectiveness of current content moderation and accountability measures.

Online abuse: body shaming and clickbait

Behind the hoax, the “Mzansi Celebrities” Facebook post, which is the earliest of the posts that CABC detected in the sequence of posts, was just the latest example of ongoing body shaming and commentary on Moloi’s recent weight loss. Gossip sites, disguised as platforms for celebrity news, recycled misleading headlines and used clickbait language to ramp up speculation and drive users to monetised advertising links. These “celebrity news” pages often push rumours for clout and potentially for ad revenue, while offering no accountability or recourse for victims.

Such disinformation is more than digital rumour-mongering; it is a form of gendered harm. It perpetuates problematic narratives about women’s bodies, often targeting public-facing women and exposing them to potential humiliation and harm.

Repeat offenders: Not an isolated incident

Accounts such as “Mzansi Celebrities” have been linked to similar incidents. “Mzansi Celebrities” spread a death hoax about TV personality Sophie Ndaba, referring to her “passing out” and continuing: “We all loved her.” Among other examples is a fabricated story about the cause of death of Nathi Mthethwa.

Despite CABC reporting these posts to Facebook in October using the platform’s reporting functionality, many of the falsehoods remain online, continuing to receive engagement and posing potential risks to reputations and mental wellbeing.

CABC took the proactive step of submitting a detailed report on the offending posts to the appropriate Facebook representatives, one of whom responded: “The team has reviewed the content you reported and found that it violates our Community Standards and have taken appropriate action.” However, CABC subsequently found the posts still visible and the accounts active, despite a number of death hoaxes.

CABC also asked Facebook’s communications and media team for comment on the matter but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Adding insult to injury

As if the initial spread of disinformation was not damaging enough, “Mzansi Celebrities” followed up with another post:

“Imagine hearing that you’ve died while you’re still very much alive. Well, that’s exactly what radio presenter Pabi Moloi recently experienced. And when you try to explain people think you are going crazy!”

The post also directed readers to “read the full story” by checking the comments section below, where a link was provided to a related article also on “Celebrity Breeze”.

“Celebrity Breeze” describes itself as a “trusted source for all things South African celebrity news and career opportunities”.

After the posts about Moloi were reported to Facebook, these accounts have continued to spread death hoaxes, including one falsely implying that prankster, actor and filmmaker Leon Schuster had died. See example posts here and here. However, Schuster too remains very much alive.

Shielded from consequences by anonymity

Efforts to hold individuals accountable for spreading disinformation and perpetrating online abuse often run into a significant barrier: anonymity. On Facebook and similar platforms, many users posting harmful or misleading content do so from accounts with limited or vague identifying information. Behind profile pictures that reveal little and usernames that offer no true clues, these users can act without fear of the consequences.

Where is Facebook’s accountability?

These events point to possible gaps in Facebook’s regulation and moderation of virally spreading disinformation, particularly in cases involving gendered abuse. Large pages that repeatedly disseminate hoaxes and clickbait not only flout basic standards of accuracy and decency, but also affect the lives of real people. The posts remain and these pages persist. The onus of debunking the falsehoods falls unfairly on the victims themselves.

As a platform that profits from attention and engagement, Facebook should be accountable for addressing the rapid spread of disinformation and potential digital harm. The platform’s response in this instance raises questions about its willingness or capacity to disrupt such cycles of abuse.

Moloi’s ordeal is not just another celebrity rumour gone wild. It exemplifies the broader failure of social media platforms, including Facebook, to adequately regulate the spread of misleading and harmful content. The cost to those affected is significant, underlining the importance of platform responsibility and intervention. DM

Kirsten Pearson is an activist and development practitioner.