Discerning fake news
Overview
While the concept of fake news isn’t new, it has become more ubiquitous with the popularity of social media and the increasing reliance on social media in everyday life. Social media gives anyone the power to share information, whether true or false, in many different forms. You may come across fake news in the form of legitimate looking news articles, YouTube and social media videos, memes, infographics, viral content, radio and TV broadcasts, by word of mouth, and more.
This article will cover:
Spotting misinformation and fake news
Lateral reading
Filter bubbles
Deep fakes
Developing
Fake news involves hoaxes, opinions, scams, or misleading or false information presented as legitimate news stories. It is capable of disrupting elections, economies, social movements, reputations, geo-political conflicts and more. While some fake news may appear fake, others are increasingly more sophisticated.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of fake news, particularly when a piece of media confirms our existing beliefs and ideas. This is known as confirmation bias. However, despite how much we may want something to be true to support our beliefs, it is important to check our biases and critically analyse the information we find online.
There are several common features of fake news that may immediately flag a piece of information as suspicious. These include:
Provocative or misleading headlines
Clickbait
Propaganda or opinion pieces
Unusual URLs
Distorted dates
Fake authors
However, some articles may not immediately strike you as suspicious. When reading news or information online, no matter how sophisticated, you should always check for the following:
Authority
Is the author qualified to be writing on this topic? Do they possess relevant qualifications or work experience?
If the author is an organisation, is it recognised and trustworthy?
Is there an ulterior motive for presenting the information, particularly a financial or political one?
Purpose
Why was the content created?
Is its goal to inform (presenting an objective and evidence-based account of the topic)?
Is its goal to persuade (presenting a biased or one-sided account of the topic)?
Is the information trying to sell you a product?
Evidence
If claims are being made, is there evidence to support them, either as references or links to further information?
If the author is using references, are they from authors who are qualified to write on the topic?
Can you find corroboration for the points being made elsewhere on the internet?
Are the quotes or examples used only part of what was said? Have they been taken out of context?
The best way to establish the credibility of information is through a process called lateral reading. The process of lateral reading involves reading across sources, checking information as it’s presented to you. This contrasts from simply reading a webpage's 'About Us' page and taking it at face value, to also searching the rest of the web for more information about the author or organisation who created the information, the date it was posted, what others have to say about the topic and more. As an evaluation method, we recommend the CRAAP method, which checks for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose.
Someone may have also done the work for you! Media literacy sites such as snopes.com and factcheck.org check the authenticity of news and viral content.
Skilled
Filter bubbles are echo chambers of like-minded views, curated through the personalisation of online services (including news clicks, search behaviour, and social media algorithms). Filter bubbles affect the flow of information that you receive, reducing or preventing exposure to information that may challenge our world view.
Filter bubbles play a large part in online communities where false news can easily spread. Additionally, as you are not getting an accurate view on the world, you may be surprised by certain world events, such as the results of Brexit and the 2016 US elections.
These echo chambers are formed both organically and intentionally throughout your journey through the internet. Everything you do leaves a trace, from interactions on social media to clicking ads and utilising search engines. Web algorithms eat these up, forming highly personalised profiles based on your interests and behaviour. Both Facebook and Google develop ad profiles based on what they think you may like, and the more we interact with certain people and their content, the more they’ll be present in your feeds. Further, by actively blocking, muting or unfollowing what we don’t like or agree with, we actively narrow our exposure to certain information and conflicting views.
Filter bubbles are therefore the result of both social media algorithms and our own behaviour. Recognising that you are in a filter bubble is the first step to breaking free from it. The next steps are finding ways to actively re-train the algorithm to diversify your feed and the information you receive.
How to ‘pop’ your filter bubble.
Use ad-blocking extensions
Use incognito browsing
Delete or block browser cookies
Interact with a wider range of people
Interact with content outside your comfort zone
Follow differing perspectives
Adept
This section needs further development. Add your contribution.
Deep fakes are a sophisticated form of fake news, where fictional videos or images are created featuring well-known or made-up people doing or saying things that are not real. This advanced form of manipulation is created using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
How to spot deep fakes
Search for surrounding media or do a reverse image search of a video screenshot
Unnatural eye movement or facial expressions
A lack of emotion
Awkward-looking body or posture
Poor lip-syncing
Errors in fine details, such as hair or teeth
References/further reading
https://theconversation.com/the-filter-bubble-isnt-just-facebooks-fault-its-yours-69664
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-emerging-threats-how-to-spot-deepfakes.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-how-can-you-spot-them
https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/chapter/what-reading-laterally-means/
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