FAKE NEWS FACTS

DID YOU KNOW?

“fake news” or “viral news” has detrimental effects, so how can readers defend themselves from it? Deceptive content often appears to be coming from objective news sources, challenging us to work harder to stay informed and discern fact from fiction. Here are some important facts about fake news that will illustrate the danger of this type of media and how to stay protected against it and give the next generation the tools they need to do the same.

Misinformation can be weaponized to influence politics, economics, and social well-being, from potentially affecting elections and referendums to inciting prejudice, confusion, and violence.

1. Fake news examples are not new.

Misinformation has been around in many different forms since the advent of print news 500 years ago, even before verified, objective journalism became a standard.

Fake news examples have also come in the form of hoaxes, such as Orson Welles’ notorious 1938 radio broadcast about an alien invasion that led many listeners to panic. According to Politico(opens in new tab), fake news has always leaned “sensationalist and extreme, designed to inflame passions and prejudices.” You’ve seen it in grocery store aisles for years–outrageous tabloid headlines propagating dubious celebrity rumors, conspiracy theories, and urban legends. Pamphlets about witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries led to witch-hunts and murder.

2. A fake news website can spread fake news faster than real news

An analysis of Facebook news around this same election found that the top 20 fake news stories generated more engagement than the top 20 credible news stories (from major news outlets). The internet and social media have enabled misinformation to evolve and reach the masses faster and more insidiously than ever before, from deceptive click-bait–sensationalized headlines aimed to generate site traffic and make money through ad sales–to the larger implications of cyber propaganda–meant to manipulate public opinion on a national and even global scale. A fake news website can spread fake news faster than real news

In a six-week period around the time of the 2016 presidential election, research suggests that as many as 25% of Americans visited a fake news website. that, “falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information.”

3. Social media proficiency does not correlate with digital literacy

Researchers studied nearly 8,000 middle school, high school, and college students, testing them in several areas, including distinguishing between a news article and an opinion column, identifying sponsored ads, verifying claims, determining whether a website is trustworthy, and judging when a social media post is a useful source of information. But when it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media and fake news channels, they are easily duped.”

It may be tempting to assume that tech-savvy adolescents of the digital age would know how to navigate internet content better than anyone, but this is not the case.

4. Schools are incorporating digital literacy into curricula

Though much work remains to be done, several states have proposed legislation requiring schools to incorporate instruction on digital citizenship, including internet safety, media literacy, and information literacy. They should be taught how to distinguish reliable sources, data, and photos from falsities, bias, and satire; give proper attribution by citing sources and avoiding plagiarism, and understand primary and secondary sources. and it is vital that kids and adults are capable of conducting reliable and ethical research and thinking critically about the deluge of content they come across. So much of today’s academic and professional research and information-consumption takes place online.

5. Businesses are developing countermeasures against misinformation

Google gives money to fact-checking organizations and media literacy companies, made changes to its algorithm and autocomplete tools, and established the Google News Initiative(opens in new tab) to help credible stories rank higher and demote fake news and other low-quality content. One of the major facts about fake news is that fake news sites often game the system by buying bots to comment on, like, and repost their content, artificially boosting its popularity. On social media sites, newsfeed content visibility is largely based on engagement, with no consideration of content accuracy or objectivity.

Twitter and Facebook have ramped up their efforts to suspend bots and suspicious accounts and have created tools to enable users to report fake news. From educators to legislators to business executives and parents, everyone has a role to play in protecting the integrity of online content and preparing young people to engage online safely and successfully.