What Is Fake News?

[Music] you've probably heard this term faking use fake booze fake news big news fake news fake booze but what exactly is fake news and more importantly why should you care about it let's start by looking at its history Wow wait that wasn't a shadow it's something moving it's standing on legs those strange beings who landed in the jersey farmlands tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from the planet Mars while fake news is nothing new the Internet has made it easier than ever for fake news to spread and even happen in the first place

here's why before the internet most people got their news from the paper radio or television because there were fewer sources providing news it was in the best interest of each to be as reputable as possible but with the internet news moved online suddenly anyone could post information on places like Facebook and Twitter with so much information coming at us from all angles it's easy to get duped especially when articles are made to look like verified news sources people generally believe it to be true because it looks like news this is happening more than ever in

fact studies show that 75% of people who see fake news think it's real news it can be really hard to tell when something is fake even our own eyes can be tricked this is called a deep fake videos like this one use artificial intelligence to make it look like someone is saying or doing something they never actually did being duped by false information you have devastating effects on society in our democracy that's why it's more important than ever for you to know what fake news is be able to recognize it and know how to stop

it from spreading so back to our original question what is fake news fake news is when news stories or hoaxes are created to deliberately miss inform or deceive it also helps to know what fake news is not news you don't like or simply don't agree with is not fake news stories that poke fun at real news on parody sites for example are not fake news opinion pieces on news sites are not fake news and honest mistakes are not fake news still recognizing fake news is hard that's why it's up to you to be critical of

what you see in here online a good way to do this is by using the crap test find out if the article is current sometimes old articles are recirculated online ask if the site where the article is posted is reputable open a second tab on your computer and look into the site that hosts the article find out who the author is is it a person with verifiable credentials find out the purpose or point of view of the article is it trying to sell you something or convince you of their position finally you can always use

plain old common sense if you see something online that makes you scratch your head then it's time to start doing some sleuthing these sites can help it can be easy to be tricked online but if you're smart and ask questions you can stop fake news in its tracks whatever you do don't make cher sin or like fake news and watch out for clickbait it's up to you to call foul on fake news [Music]