A wild misinformation campaign has recently spread across social media platforms, falsely claiming that Google intends to shut down Gmail in August. The notion is bizarre on the face of it why would Google close down one of the world’s largest email services?

The doctored screenshot, designed to mimic a Google announcement, went viral and at the time of writing this article, the original post on platform X neared 7 million views. Despite its convincing appearance, resembling an actual Google statement, the information within the screenshot is entirely false. Users can rest assured that even after August 1, 2024, Gmail will continue to function, sending and receiving emails as it always has the image is nothing but a poor taste joke.

The misleading photo is an edited version of a notification about the discontinuation of Gmail’s HTML view. When Gizmodo reached out to a Google spokesperson for comment, the response was a succinct post on platform X, stating simply: "Gmail is here to stay."

Social media users are advised to approach such unbelievable news with skepticism. Often, what appears to be alarming information turns out to be nothing more than a bad joke taken seriously and spread without verification.