I usually browse Facebook for 15-20 minutes when I wake up in the morning, before getting off my bed. I was doing the same that day, when I came across a news of Sridevi’s death. My instant reaction was not of shock or sadness. I instantly switched to Google and looked for the authenticity of the news. I only believed the news after I saw them published in some of the leading dailies. The very next moment I thought to myself, what the world has come to. An actor’s death stirred the apprehension in me than anything else. The number of fake news that do the rounds these days, it seems like every day is April Fool’s day.
Fake News – What It Is
‘Fake news’ is a phrase that became common in the last few years. The going number of fake news websites and news with no authenticity is on the rise. Unfortunately, fake news is slowly posing as a threat to democracy and freedom of press.
Image Credit: blog.broadcom.org
What Do Fake News Spread
Different kinds of fake news do the rounds on the internet. First, are celebrity death hoax news. Celebs like Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, John Cena, Eminem, Eddie Murphy, have all been victims of death hoax. Second in line come are fake news that cause disharmony among people and communities.
The Fast And Easy Platform
The smooth pavement for the fake news sites are being provided by the different social media and microblogging sites. Internet data being cheaper and more accessible these days, and the high engagement of people on social media, the fake news articles are reaching the mass within no time.
A study conducted by Stanford has revealed that students failed miserably in distinguishing between news and fake news. Yes, such is the style and convincing style of writing these news. It is important that we, as readers, know how to tell fake news from the real ones. It is always advisable that we check and validate a news piece from more than one reliable news sources. Yet, there have been instances when news channels have reported incorrect news, only to correct themselves the next day. From 2012 to 2015, it has been observed that people have gradually shown more trust in non-traditional news platforms, than the traditional ones.
Here are 3 tips to not fall a prey to fake news:
- Be sceptical of the headlines you read: Check more than one news sources.
- Check the URLs: Many fake news sites make small changes to look like authentic sites.
- Notice style of writing: If you notice grammatical and spelling errors in a news piece, there are chances that it can be fake.
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