Fake news: what it is and how to identify

fake news means "false news". It is news information that does not represent reality, but that is shared on the internet as if it were true, mainly through social networks.

Usually, the goal of a fake news is to create controversy around a situation or person, contributing to the denigration of its image. For having an extremely dramatic, appealing and controversial content, the fake news they tend to attract a lot of attention from the masses, especially when they are lacking in critical thinking.

Thus, fake content can act as an illegal "weapon" against something. In the political sphere, for example, false news is used with the intention of "smearing" the reputation of a certain candidate, causing him to lose potential voters.

How to identify fake news?

identify fake news

Due to the ease with which information can be created and shared on the internet, it becomes It is essential that the user has a high critical sense when faced with any type of contents.

It may seem difficult to identify fake news, but following some basic steps it is easy to know if the analyzed information is true or not.

Read all content

One of the most common types of fake news is when the news headline is displayed disjointedly with the rest of the information. Unfortunately, many people share content on social media, for example, without reading the entire text and thus are spreading totally misleading ideas about what actually happened.

Check the origin

False news is poor in sources. When information does not contain basic journalistic elements, such as the reference to what is being said, for example, the veracity of the text becomes questionable.

Check out the authors

Another tip is to check the identity of the authors of the text and look for a history of works that have already been done by these people. In many cases the authors of a fake news they may be false, so if there is no evidence of who wrote the information, the probability that it is false news is high.

Search for other sources

When we receive some information we should not rely exclusively on the first news source. The ideal is to search for other credible communication vehicles and check if the content was also published and what information is contained in the different texts.

Check the date of publication of the news

The information may be true, but it is being used outside of its original context. Therefore, before sharing a news, for example, it is important to check the date it was published.

Critical Sense on Alert

The most important thing is to have the ability to question the "truths", not accepting everything as if it were absolutely real just because you "read it on the internet".

fake news and the "post-truth"

Post-truth is a neologism created to name the social phenomenon developed on the internet where false news (fake news) are now considered truths due to their massive diffusion.

The term "post-truth" was chosen to Word of the Year in 2016 by the Oxford Dictionary. Post-truth was defined as the idea that a concrete fact has less significance or influence than "appeals to emotion and personal beliefs".

This means that, according to the concept of post-truth, it becomes more important to believe that something is true (even if it isn't) than what is actually true.

Thus, the use of the prefix "post" refers to the idea that the concept of truth does not have the same meaning as in the past.

Types of fake news

At fake news are created by different motivations and, depending on these, can be classified into 7 main types of false news:

satire or parody

Normally does not intend to cause harm. They are often present on comedy websites and can be easily identified as fake.

false connection

These are when the images, title or headline do not match the rest of the news content. This kind of fake news it is done due to a bad journalism policy or for the profit of a certain site.

In the latter case, catchy titles are created to draw people's attention to click on the site (clickbait), just so that page owners can earn money from viewing the advertisements they have in articles, for example.

misleading content

It is the classic content that presents false information. It can be used in various situations, mainly with a partisan character, such as political influence or propaganda strategy.

false context

In this case the information in the news is completely true, but it is being used outside of its original context. In other words, it can be old news that is used as if it were recent, for example.

imposter content

This type is characterized by using statements that were supposed to have been made by true sources, when in reality they never made such statements.

Content manipulated

It is one of the most complex types of false news to analyze. In this case the content presented is true, but the person who wrote it builds the text in a way capable of manipulate the audience less attentive.

manufactured content

It's kind of perverse content. It is 100% false, that is, the entire text was invented with the purpose of causing misinformation, deceiving people and, consequently, causing some harm.

consequences of fake news

The spread of fake news it can have disastrous and tragic consequences. People can be unfairly punished for acts they didn't commit and even wars can be declared due to the dissemination of false news, for example.

To prevent the fake news continue to cause great social and political damage, some preventive and punitive measures are being applied by the main digital platforms, such as the Facebook, Twitter and Google. In addition, bills aimed at guaranteeing control against the spread of false information on social networks are intensifying.

See also the meaning of News.

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