Serena Williams falls victim to lawsuit hoax

What’s the story?

Recently, social media was abuzz with a half-furnished report of World No. 1 Serena Williams being sued by a pro-life advocate for having an ‘unfair advantage’ at the Australian Open as a result of her pregnancy.

The lawsuit, the report alleged, said Williams had an ‘unfair advantage’ being pregnant, and should have been counted as a doubles partner. That lawsuit, the report also said, had been tabled by an anti-abortion “pro-life” activist who called for Serena’s title to be stripped, given she was eight weeks pregnant at the time of winning the Australian Open.

That story, which was widely shared on social networks, most widely on Twitter and Facebook, has been revealed to be taken from a comedy website, a fact the original sharer ommitted, which led to large numbers sharing the article as true.

In Case You Didnt Know...

Last week, Williams revealed she was then 20 weeks pregnant with her first child, whom she shares with fiance Alexis Ohanian. That reveal, she said, was accidental, as Williams had not intended to reveal her pregnancy to the public until a few weeks later. Following her mistake, however, Williams did indeed confirm her pregnancy via her representative, who also announced the World No. 1 would not be playing tennis for the remainder of 2017.

Heart of the Matter

A Twitter story claimed Williams was sued by a ‘pro-life’ anti-abortion activist, who alleged that Williams foetus should be considered a human being, and ergo a doubles partner, giving the American icon an “unfair advantage.” She was already expecting when she won the Australian Open, winning her 23^rd Major eight weeks pregnant.

That story was shared over 3,000 times on Twitter by one account alone, with several others also circulating it as true. It was also shared on Facebook by thousands as true, although the original sharer omitted to mention that the article was written on a comedy/satire website.

What’s Next?

Williams, despite having only played – and won – the Australian Open this year, returned to World No. 1 last month after closest competitor Angelique Kerber remained unable to defend points from 2016.

The American World No. 1 will take a maternity break from the remainder of the season, but said via her spokesperson that she fully intended to make a return in the 2018 season.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Rumours are often circulated as news, with no verification or background checking, and with a plethora of sources, each with their own biases, verifying is not often easy. The internet also offers anonymity, with often few to no repercussions for those intentionally sharing fake news, as this user has done.

While users will sometimes point out hoaxes, and they may even seem obvious to many, most hoaxes such as these continue for a significant amount of time before officially being debunked.

It is quite likely in this case Williams will not respond.