On April 23, 2024, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted a screenshot of a purported news story about the Circle K convenience store and gas station chain with the caption, "Circle K did nothing wrong." The replies under the post indicated some users believed this to be a genuine report containing real news. As of this writing, the post had received more than 1.1 million impressions.
A quick Google search led us to find out the screenshot was taken from an article published the previous day on a website named The Dissident Post. The headline read, "Cirlce [sic] K gas station chain hit with LGBT discrimination lawsuit after refusing to hire people convicted of child sex crimes."
The article began as follows:
The Circle K convenience store chain has been hit with a lawsuit by federal officials who allege the company discriminated against LGBT job applicants.
Circle K Inc., which operates more than 7,000 convenience stores discriminated against LGBT job seekers - specifically gay men and trans-women - by automatically weeding out applicants who had been convicted of child sex crimes, according to U.S. officials.
President Joe Biden stopped by a Circle K for snacks this week while campaigning in Pennsylvania.
The article was also shared on X by The Dissident Post and several other accounts, including a popular user named The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial).
On Facebook, one user wrote of the article, "Circle K is being sued for LGBTQ discrimination for refusing to hire people convicted of child sex crimes. I was told the LGBTQ community doesn't do child sex crimes. That it's only the church. Hmmmmmmmmm."
Another Facebook user mentioned that U.S. President Joe Biden's name was included in the article. "Really? You vote for a person that supports sex crime offenders?" the user posted.
However, the truth was that The Dissident Post publishes satire. The articles on the website contain multiple clues about its satirical nature. Further, the first question on the website's "About Us" page mentions satire.
According to a Community Note on X, the satire story may have been at least partially inspired by recent news regarding a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by U.S. federal officials against the Sheetz convenience store chain.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.