Fake News

Fake news mostly appears in social media feeds, but can be seen in mainstream media and on webpages too. These are misleading stories designed to get attention and the stories themselves often contain little or no elements of truth. As anyone can create, publish and share information, it’s important you use your critical thinking skills to help you determine what’s fact and what’s fake.

If a story seems unusual or outrageous, check it out.

Is the source credible?
Where can you fact check the information?
Are the photos real?

You should bear in mind that it is becoming increasingly easy to doctor photos and videos to look real so that there are even utterly convincing fake videos on the internet of famous people saying things that have been completely doctored. The technologies to misrepresent people already exist and this tendency is likely to become increasingly popular.

It is a concern because such fake stories can be used to malign reputations and even undermine confidence in people or indeed political systems. You can help to minimise the spread of misinformation by treating reporting fake accounts, or pages.