Library Guides: Evaluating Sources: Fake News

Overview

What is `fake news'?

'Fake news' is a broad term which is generally used to describe false stories and misinformation presented as genuine news items. It is not usually entirely fictional (although it can be); more often, it is an account of a real event that has nevertheless been subject to distortion, exaggeration, and bias by the reporter. Fake news can be differentiated from other forms of misinformation in that it commonly involves an element of sensationalism. As such, it has a tendency to spread rapidly across the Internet - especially on social media sites - by being continually re-posted, reuploaded or re-reported, mostly by individuals who had no involvement in the creation of the original or awareness of its fictitious nature.

Why Fake News?

There can be many motivations for generating 'fake news'. It can be used to influence opinions or political views, damage the reputations of individuals or organisations, make money through advertising revenue or, in some cases, it may simply be a prank. Not all 'fake news' is intended to deceive, however. False reporting can also start and spread through panic and fear, for example.

It's important to keep in mind that the term `Fake news' dominates political discourse and is sometimes used inappropriately as a means of discrediting the claims of opponents irrespective of their validity. It can also be used by people with agendas or biases to discredit news that would be considered legitimate by most standards.

This page will discuss some examples of fake news and offer advice on shielding yourself from this type of misinformation.

Video: How to Spot Fake News - FactCheck.org

FactCheck (2016) How to spot fake news - FactCheck.org. Available at: https://youtu.be/AkwWcHekMdo (Accessed: 15 September 2020).

Reports: 'Fake News'

Fake News and Critical Literacy: Final Report
The Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills, run by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Literacy and the National Literacy Trust, as well as partners Facebook, First News and The Day, has gathered a wealth of evidence over the past year on the impact of fake news on children and young people, as well as the skills children need to be able to spot it.
Fake news in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Fake news is an insidious and widespread issue in the news industry as a whole and has become a global problem. In the United States, the term and concept grew in popularity during the 2016 election, but has since manifested itself in areas outside the realm of politics.

Video: Everybody Can Make Deepfakes Now!

Deepfake is a technique for human image synthesis based on artificial intelligence. It is used to combine and superimpose existing images and videos onto source images or videos using a machine learning technique known as generative adversarial network.
Deepfakes challenge the idea of visual truth by presenting intentionally false videos, usually on a platform that can be seen by multiple people. Deepfakes can be used to create fake news and malicious hoaxes.

The following video expalins how it works.

Two Minute Papers (2020) Everybody can make deepfakes now! Available at: https://youtu.be/mUfJOQKdtAk (Accessed: 15 September 2020).

Have Some Fun and Learn Through Games

Challenge yourself and play one of the proposed games or even all of them.

Bad News
In Bad News, you take on the role of fake news-monger. Drop all pretense of ethics and choose a path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. But keep an eye on your ‘followers’ and ‘credibility’ meters. Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site. But watch out: you lose if you tell obvious lies or disappoint your supporters!
Factitious
Factitious is a game for testing your skill at identifying fake and misleading news stories. The game was developed by the American University Game Lab and the American University’s School of Communication.
FakeOut
Your social media feed has been infected by false information. Your job is to learn the skills of verification, so you can sort fact from fiction - in the game, and in real life.
Fake or Foto
We often see images that are of such good quality we don't consider whether the picture is reality or if it was computer generated. Take our Fake or Foto challenge and see if you can tell the difference between our real photos and those which are computer generated.