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Allegations of fake news stretch beyond politics
Allegations of ‘fake news’ stretch beyond politics
By Renae Merle July 4 at 8:18 PM
Kamilla Bjorlin has appeared in movies with Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins, played an “evil serpent” on the popular soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and a countess in “Princess Diaries 2.” ... Acting “is the passion of my life,” Bjorlin said in a brief interview, noting that she has been performing since she was 6.
But even as her Hollywood career was flourishing, court documents allege that Bjorlin was the mastermind behind another bit of make-believe: secretly paying writers — some of whom used pseudonyms such as the Swiss Trader and falsely claimed to have MBAs — to produce hundreds of positive articles, tweets and Facebook posts that attempted to pump up the stock prices of specific companies.
In one case, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, Bjorlin’s firm helped drive up by 925 percent the stock price of Galena Biopharma, a small pharmaceutical company, after placing dozens of articles about the company in reputable online outlets.
Once, such hype might have targeted the uninitiated, but these days, an increasing number of stock trades are driven by computers making split-second decisions about when to buy or sell — often by using sophisticated algorithms to monitor price changes and even the flow of news on mainstream outlets and social media. Some worry that strategically placed commentary can move markets before experienced humans have time to sniff out a con.
....
Julie Tate and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
Renae Merle covers white collar crime and Wall Street for The Washington Post. Follow @renaemerle
By Renae Merle July 4 at 8:18 PM
Kamilla Bjorlin has appeared in movies with Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins, played an “evil serpent” on the popular soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and a countess in “Princess Diaries 2.” ... Acting “is the passion of my life,” Bjorlin said in a brief interview, noting that she has been performing since she was 6.
But even as her Hollywood career was flourishing, court documents allege that Bjorlin was the mastermind behind another bit of make-believe: secretly paying writers — some of whom used pseudonyms such as the Swiss Trader and falsely claimed to have MBAs — to produce hundreds of positive articles, tweets and Facebook posts that attempted to pump up the stock prices of specific companies.
In one case, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, Bjorlin’s firm helped drive up by 925 percent the stock price of Galena Biopharma, a small pharmaceutical company, after placing dozens of articles about the company in reputable online outlets.
Once, such hype might have targeted the uninitiated, but these days, an increasing number of stock trades are driven by computers making split-second decisions about when to buy or sell — often by using sophisticated algorithms to monitor price changes and even the flow of news on mainstream outlets and social media. Some worry that strategically placed commentary can move markets before experienced humans have time to sniff out a con.
....
Julie Tate and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
Renae Merle covers white collar crime and Wall Street for The Washington Post. Follow @renaemerle
