Google has recently clarified that Gmail remains a part of Google's services, quelling rumors of its shutdown that gained traction on social media.
A viral post on X, previously known as Twitter, which amassed over seven million views, falsely announced Gmail's closure in August. Google responded on the same platform to dismiss the misinformation.
A communications specialist highlighted that this incident underscores the perils of online misinformation. Richard Bagnall, head of CARMA, a communications evaluation company, remarked, "The online environment often leads people to accept information at face value, lacking efficient mechanisms to authenticate it. The unchecked and unverified dissemination of information by social networks means we are likely to encounter more incidents like the Gmail rumor."
Social media platforms universally face challenges in curbing misinformation, yet X has faced particular scrutiny for its role in propagating false information, with the EU in 2023 pointing out its comparative deficiency in curbing misinformation spread.
Despite criticism, the company has stated its dedication to combating hate speech while safeguarding freedom of expression. This hoax seems to stem from an actual Google email from 2023 informing users about the discontinuation of Gmail's basic HTML version, a version from its 2004 launch that would now seem obsolete to most users.
The misleading post claimed, "After years of facilitating global connections and seamless communication, we regret to announce the conclusion of Gmail's journey." Gmail, however, remains the leading email service globally, with Statista reporting over 1.5 billion active users.
Google has indeed phased out some of its services in recent years, including the Stadia gaming platform, YouTube Stories similar to Snapchat, and has started to close old, unused Gmail accounts. It also announced the shutdown of Google Podcasts, a service now largely replaced by YouTube Music, also owned by Google.
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