False earthquake alarm from platform fighting against fake news gets Romanians out of their homes on Friday evening

An earthquake alert got several people in Romania out of their apartments on Friday evening at 8 PM, after they had received an alarming message through the Biziday app, a platform fighting against fake news developed by local journalist Moise Guran. The message read that a 10-degree earthquake was detected in the Vrancea seismic region in Eastern Romania. The message asked people to keep their calm and take shelter. Messages started pouring on Facebook and on the Biziday.ro website from people asking what was going on. Moise Guran posted a message on Facebook saying that the Biziday app went crazy, and that the team would investigating the incident. “It could be an error, but I don’t exclude other possibilities,” Guran wrote. The panic was enhanced by the fact that Romania is one day away from commemoration a devastating earthquake that took place on March 4, 1977, killing 1,578 people. People were frightened and commented on Facebook to check what’s happening. “Moise, I left the house in underwear. I’m still getting alarms about the 10-degree earthquake. (...) What the hell is happening?” Many criticized Guran for releasing the app without testing it properly or for not taking the necessary precautions to secure it as it disseminates sensitive information. Several minutes later, Moise Guran explained that the message sent by the app was not an earthquake alarm, but a red alarm, which means that their server had been broken. “For the moment, we’ve disconnected it and we are investigating,” Guran wrote. Moise Guran, the creator of the Biziday platform, has been actively involved in spreading the word about the impact of fake news and the gap they are creating in the society. The Biziday app, which aims to promote verified news from trustworthy sources, has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. The Biziday Facebook page has more than 394,000 fans. Diana Mesesan, diana@romania-insider.com