A Facebook post shared July 20 shows a screengrab of an article published by the Vancouver Times announcing the arrest of Tim Hortons' CEO Daniel Schwartz.
"Vancouver times is reporting CEO of Tim Hortons Daniel Schwartz was arrested at his home outside of New York City by federal officers and members of the NYPD for possession of child ponography (sic)," the post's caption claims.
It was shared about 100 times in the week after it was published. A prior post shared on Facebook garnered over 400 likes before it was deleted. Similar posts announcing the alleged arrest have spread on Facebook and Twitter.
But a Tim Hortons spokesperson said the claim is false.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks
The Vancouver Times publishes a mix of real and fabricated articles on its site. It has since deleted the Tim Hortons article, identifying it as "satire."
The Facebook user acknowledged the story's false roots, stating, "I shared it but it's the Vancouver Times... Satire article."
But the presentation of the story online gave no hint of its satirical nature, which led to users taking it as truth. One user expressed their disgust beneath the Facebook post, commenting, "Sick!!" Another commented, "Wow!"
No major news outlets have reported on the alleged arrest of Schwartz, whose title is also misidentified. He is ...
The visual verification might not be accessible to you. We recommend you to use the audio verification instead. Important: after clicking play, you will hear 6 digits. Please wait until the audio f...