EXCERPT FROM  
http://www.myweku.com/2011/01/mandela-death-hoax-does-twitter-need-a-hoax-police/

There is a rather morbid and sick fascination with rumours that report the death of famous people. Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby have all been victims. Perhaps there is a group of idle minds out there whose sole purpose on twitter is to make a name for themsleves by starting rumours and hoping the twitterati fall for it.

No doubt, the latest hoax about Mandela’s suposed death will generate calls to track down the origins of the rumour. Outraged “punters” will of course call for the twitter account of the culprit to be removed. However, for twitter to be taken seriously going forward surely there needs a swift mechanism from twitter for debunking sich high profile hoaxes. Surely before a story on the scale and magnitude of the “death” of Mandela appears on the trending topic list of twitter, the site could do with an effective system of cross checking the facts  and if possible deleting such hoaxes or putting up a message to debunk them without encroaching into the realms of censorship.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?