Weinergate

Editor’s Note: This entry is dedicated to tracking and documenting the online activity surrounding the Weinergate Twitter scandal.

Overview

Weinergate refers to a controversy surrounding a tweet that went out of New York Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account with a picture of a bulging penis under a pair of grey boxer briefs.

Background

On May 27th, 2011, Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account posted a link to a yfrog hosted photo of a boxer brief clad man with a visible erection. The tweet was directed to a journalism student at a Washington State community college, who has since deleted both her Twitter and Facebook accounts.^[1]

Anthony Weiner has since claimed that his Twitter account was hacked, but will not confirm or deny that the photo was of him.

Notable Developments

Image Composition Analysis

Anthony De Rosa posted an entry in his blog analyzing the EXIF data from the tweeted photo and showed that it did not match the EXIF data from an image posted immediately before on his Twitter account.^[2]

The Daily Show Commentary

John Stewart first reported on the scandal in an episode of the Daily Show on May 31st, 2011. During the segment he claims that Anthony Weiner is a friend of his, and that having known him rather well, has doubts about the photo belonging to the congressman.

In a follow-up segment on June 1st, he commented on Weiner’s lack of “certitude” about whether or not the picture was authentic.

Weiner’s Confession

Rep. Weiner admitted to tweeting the photo at a press conference in Manhattan on June 6th, 2011. He said he intended to send the photo as a direct message to a woman “as a joke”, but accidentally sent it out as a public tweet. He said over the “past few years” he had engaged in inappropriate conversations with women he met over social networking sites, and had sent several inappropriate photos. The story was picked up by The Daily What immediately following the press conference.^[3]

On Twitter

External Links

^[1]Ironic Surrealism – @GennetteNicole Femme Fatale of Weinergate Twitter Scandal / Posted on May 28th, 2011

^[2]Soup – Phone Data on Wiener’s Previous yfrog Images

^[3]The Daily What – Follow Up of the Day: Rep. Anthony Weiner Admits To Sexting With Six Women