Social media users spread false claim that CNN reported that Cash App is bankrupt
This photo shows logos for Cash App, in New York, on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. The Associated Press reported on social media posts falsely claiming that CNN reported the online payment service had gone bankrupt. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
CLAIM: CNN has reported that online payment service Cash App has gone bankrupt.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A spokesperson for CNN says the network didn’t publish any such news article. The person who originally posted the claim on Facebook has also admitted it was made up.
THE FACTS: As Cash App dealt with a system outage that prevented customers from accessing their accounts this week, some social media users suggested the online company had gone belly up.
“Man CNN just said Cash App went bankrupt and any funds you had in your account would have to be awarded to you through bankruptcy court,” one widely shared post read.
But the cable news network reported no such Chapter 11 filing for the payment service, which is popular with small businesses, donation drives and everyday payments between consumers.
“CNN did not report this,” Emily Kuhn, a network spokesperson, wrote in an email Friday.
The social media user who originally posted the bankruptcy claim also admitted he’d fibbed in a number of expletive-filled responses to alarmed commeters.
“Lord help us. 300 shares, y’all didn’t even check the info, just straight believed anything you read on the net,” the user eventually wrote in a new post hours later.
Block Inc., the San Francisco-based tech company that owns Cash App, declined to comment on the bankruptcy claims, referring instead to its statement on the outage, which was resolved Friday morning.
On the social media platform formerly known as X, Cash App wrote that customers could once again add cash, make purchases with their Cash Card and buy Bitcoin. But not all services had fully returned yet.
“We’re continuing to get the ability to send payments and cash out back up and running,” Cash App wrote.
On Thursday night, the company had urged those experiencing issues to “not reattempt any actions such as sending and receiving payments.”
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned in June that customers of online payment services such as Cash App, Venmo and PayPal should not store their money with the apps for the long term because the funds might not be safe during a financial crisis.
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Associated Press reporter Angelo Fichera in New Jersey contributed to this story.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
