Fake News Concept
What is Fake News?
It is called Fake News or false news, the type of publications that are made with the deliberate intention of deceiving or misinforming. This type of content tries to imitate the journalistic style and is generally disseminated through digital media.
It is not more than a threat to credibility, especially in the journalistic media, even though it also occurs on social networks and web pages.
With the speed of the Internet, the spread of fake news is getting easier, which has made them a threat to the right of citizens to be well informed.
There are several types of fake news, including parody or satire. In these cases, even when their intention is not the scam itself, they can generate misinformation.
What are Fake News for?
Fake News serve to mislead, misinform, manipulate decisions, discredit or influence the fame of characters or organizations.
But it is also common that they are used for favor people or institutions, even to get some economic or political benefit.
Besides, the false connection using headlines with inaccurate information, misleading content that distorts the truth, imposter content to impersonate others, and made-up content are intended to cause harm.
Fake News Examples
The most common examples of Fake News in the world have been recorded in political topics, especially in times of elections.
That is why they have been created campaigns for users of the media to pay attention and carefully analyze the source of informationn, before sharing news that may be false, to avoid being part of the movements that promote this type of practice.
Especially since this type of news uses users to attract traffic, since more visits can generate more clicks, which means generating income.
Therefore, if a fake news story goes viral, every time someone shares it, it contributes to the author of the news story making more money.
Some Recommendations for identifying Fake News, are:
- The headlines are often exaggerated and alarmist, with excessive use of exclamation marks and capital letters.
- They often have writing and spelling errors.
- Links and pop-up ads.
- They do not cite the sources of valid or recognized information.
- They generally do not have a date.
The European Union recommends fighting Fake News in the following way:
- Change the term Fake News for misinformation.
- Promote self-regulation of the media rather than the formulation of more laws.
- Promote transparency in platforms for the distribution of great content on the Internet.
- Encourage and reward quality journalism.
- Bet on education, to detect false news and prevent its spread.
More information about Fake News
To understand more about this topic, we suggest the interview with Marc Amorós, author of the book "Fake News, the truth about false news":
