Even though fake news has existed for a long time ago, social media and the general online space have shaped its direction. This menace comes in diverse ways which involve reproducing a piece of writings from other sources, conveying it as factual news, and exploiting the social media to influence its spread.
Basically, the operators of fake news often plot this means to attract traffic to their site. Whereas some use it to stimulate their political tenets, others merely want more patronages on their site. Some people even use it to lure internet users to another site where they can see and probably click on some paid adverts.
Owners of these sites develop this means to earn more ad income, since revenue can be generated when visitors click those links. The perpetrators of this act do not care about the potential impact of their actions as long as their motive of generating more income is achieved.
Fake news blogs often lack the news broadcast writing standards and practices for certifying the precision and trustworthiness of transmitting information.
In this article, we will shed more light on how spreaders of false news function, as well as how it emanates. It also exposes how fake news fabricators employ the internet and social media in carrying out their dubious activities.
7 Tips to Note when Combating Fake News
It is a misleading notion to consider news from sites with ‘Huge traffic’ as authentic and believe that they cannot convey false news. These sites may also craft and circulate fake news broadcasts. Consequently, internet users should be educated on how to spot fake news and stop their spreading. However, several methods can be adopted to go around this. Let’s pinch at some of them.
- Make Comparison
Any false information that has manipulated the thoughts or influenced the actions of other persons is Fake news. You can report it by applying several measures. It is imperative to match news from diverse cradles.
However, some propaganda may result in the news being blocked. Your Internet Service Provider may prohibit you from visiting sites with actual news. Thus, there are many ways how to tell if your ISP is blocking a site and to make sure you can’t access the opposite of the propaganda your government is broadcasting. You can use a VPN to help you access such information by changing your IP address. It is always better to take into consideration the information presented by different parties and analyze it. There are fakes and untruths everywhere, but it is better to single them out soberly.
- Check If the Site Link Is Bogus
Even if a bulletin claims to emanate from a renowned broadcast or newspaper, ensure to verify the reliability of its web address. Match the page link with that of the source. If the address has some spelling mistakes or irregularities, you can easily deduce if the site is unreliable.
- Ascertain if the Writer is verified
Most fake news is often written by an unidentified journalist. On the verge of shielding their real identity, these fake editors may likely use the name of a popular writer in disguise or take out the credit entirely.
In some cases, they might use the name of a renowned author to trick you to think that, the news is legit. In scenarios like this, you are bound to uphold an iota of vigorous suspicion.
- Deceptive Titles
Fake news appears in the form of deceptive titles to breed interest by engaging excitements and anxieties. Some of the patterns they adopt include “How to make millions with your smartphone”, “How to lose weight in 1 week”, and “The secret of success you don’t know”, among others.
So therefore, if you come across such doubtful headings, you should disregard them as they are means to trick you.
- Ascertain facts in the article
Be judgmental in your thinking by asking yourself the following questions; Is there evidence to back this? What sources other than this have published the same story? Link the reports with other news. If there are irregularities in your comparison, there is every tendency that you’ve landed on a piece of falsified news.
One clear example of active propaganda in today’s world is Russia. It clearly and unabashedly denies the war with Ukraine and its cruel crimes. The genocide in the Ukrainian city of Bucha was a tragedy for the whole world. The deaths of a huge number of people and inhumane murders of civilians have been confirmed by all the independent world media. However, only the Russian government still desperately continues to deny it and broadcast on all state channels that their crimes in Bucha are fake.
- Be Informed and inform Others
Be informed on how to diagnose and not be deceived by sham news. Stay informed of the progress on such topics. Do well to educate others about the motive being false news and the consequence of such actions.
- Report perpetrators of fake news on social media
If you stumbled upon any fake news or misinformation on social media, there are a number of ways to lay a report against it. It is the responsibility of everybody to report such false information, especially if it is detrimental to peaceful co-existence.
There are voluminous websites that transmit fake news. So, check for the credibility of the basis of such a story. If you are not convinced, don’t hesitate to put it away.
