Denzel Washington Died on Twitter, Killed As Death Hoax Victim

Denzel Washington died on Twitter recently.  However, he is alive and well in the U.S.  False reports claimed the actor is dead.  Apparently, he got into a snowboard accident in Switzerland.  Another reporter said he died in a St. Tropaz yacht accident.

The non-credible online "news" source Global Associated News has used the same story to victimize celebrities to their fake death.  

"The actor & novice snowboarder was vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland with family and friends. Witnesses indicate that Denzel Washington lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed," the article reported.

The story sounds just the same as the recent death hoax surrounding Eddie Murphy.  Murphy on the other hand had been victimized 4 times already.  

While no other news source reported on the false death, Twitter became a tool for the story to spread and affect gullible users.

‏@DarcyGeyer tweeted, "My mum just told me that denzel washington died in a snowboarding accident... ?! Is she lying?!"

@Mr_Rushing wrote, "damn y twitter trin to kill people??? now they say denzel washington died.... smdh"

Many celebrities have suffered from death hoaxes including Adele, Gotye, Morgan Freeman, John Witherspoon, Hugh Hefner, Madonna, Demi Moore, and more.  A decade ago, this kind of death hoax would have been unimaginable.  With the launch of Twitter and social networking websites, messages could go viral in an instant.  

Washington is not a regular Twitter user and may not even know that he has been pranked.   Do you think we will soon need Twitter police monitoring the online activity that goes on?

What should Twitter do about these pranksters who start these horrible false rumors?