What is Fake News?
Media expert now divides the category of ‘the fake news’ into two broad sub-categories;
- The term ‘news fake’ usually refers to that news that is fake and is about politics, political issues and politicians.
- While the other term they use is ‘false information,’ which more or less conveys the same idea, but they strictly limit it to any disinformation or misinformation about the environment, economy, or health that is common to all humans and may affect them.
Origin of Fake News
On Social media, we come across so many videos, articles, and news that appears to be accurate but in essence, they are false and fake with only one point agenda in them to deceive their reader about the topic or issue they are reading or watching.
They also generate a good income for their publishers, too. These online publishers use the look-alike of trusted websites and domain names to trap their readers in believing their fake and dis-informed news and articles. Thus, they quickly get mistrusted, misinformed, and manipulated through these hoax stories and news about issues and topics of grave concern.
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The phenomenon of fake news is not new altogether. Before the advent of the internet, the traditional sources of news were journalists and media houses that had credibility and trustworthiness and also followed a strict professional code of ethics. But with the internet, it is hard to do this now, if not impossible.
Social media and fake news
With so many social media sites and networks, it is now not possible to tell whether any story or news going viral is true or not; With the churning out of information in social media and the unawareness of common people of how this mesh of the internet works, they are easily deceived by fake news and hoax stories. Gossip, novelty, and shareability with speed further worsen this malady of fake news and hoax stories.
How to identify them?
The experts differ over the nature, identification, and evaluation of this false news and hoax stories, but in general; they have pinout some identifying elements of them. Such as;
- Clickbait: The foremost and most commonly used technique is Clickbait through sensational headlines or photos. For example, click to learn how Supermodels maintain their beauty through simple tricks. Thus gaining a chunk of revenue for their publishers from ads.
- Propaganda: This is used deliberately to mislead and deceive the audience about an issue or cause.
- Satire or Parody: Most fake news, parodies and hoax stories come from entertainment websites.
- Careless Journalism and Information: This occurs when experts or journalists publish any information or report about anything without cross-checking the facts required for it. This may not only annoy and mislead the reader but also undermine the cause they work for.
- Catchy Headlines: The catchy headlines with a small snippet of the whole article get viral on social media without going into detail about the problem about whom the article has been written. In another sense, this is another type of Clickbait bringing visitors to a website.
- Partial News: The newsfeed on social media is the result of the personalized searches that we do on any social media platform or in any Search Engine. We search, read and watch only the news that we believe is true. No matter what their authenticity may be. Such searches, news, and newsfeed further strengthen our biased views.
- Manipulated Content: When the original content is hidden by something else to deceive or trap the readers into believing something that may be false and fake. A decoy to trap the reader about the issue in question!
- Imposter Content: Some websites and social media forums took advantage of established and well-reputed news agencies and sources to fabricate news and stories with mala fide intentions.
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Some examples of fake news going viral on social media are:
- The Ghost of Kyiv (2021).
- US Marines arrested Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2022).
- Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for the presidential election (2016).
- Israeli defense minister threatens to attack Pakistan if it sends troops to Syria (2016).