Phony Claim That Gmail Is “Sunsetting” Goes Viral

Gizmodo reports:

Have you seen a claim on social media that Google is “sunsetting” Gmail this coming August? What appears to be a screenshot from an official Google announcement has gone viral on X, but it’s completely fake.

“We are reaching out to share an important update about Gmail. After years of connecting millions worldwide, enabling seamless communication, and fostering countless connections, the journey of Gmail is coming to a close,” the viral notice reads.

Gmail is obviously an enormously popular product, with over 1.8 billion active users, according to DemandSage. And getting rid of that many email accounts would be tremendously disruptive to the world economy.

Read the full article. The fake claim has been viewed millions of times on Twitter and is an edit of a real Gmail notice that it will soon discontinue its bare bones HTML version. The origin of the phony notice is unclear at this writing, but you can all guess who is most eagerly spreading it.

this is insane. I hate this company pic.twitter.com/pXBRezPAyX

— Daniel (@growing_daniel) February 22, 2024