Have you ever heard someone say, ‘Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet’ and wondered why? When you’re on the Internet, you may have noticed that there are lots of news stories that are interesting and exciting; sad and gloomy; funny and bizarre or even news stories that don’t make sense. Unfortunately, some of these news stories are not real – they are fake news.

 

What is Fake News?

 

Fake news is when people spread news stories online that are not true or twist the facts of real news stories. Fake news is often made to look like a real news story, which makes fake news difficult to spot – even real news organisations have been tricked in sharing fake news.

 

Why Make Fake News?

 

We live in a wonderful world of diversity where people have different opinions and beliefs; this can, unfortunately, encourage people to take facts and present them in a way to support a particular point of view. It is important to celebrate diversity, but when writing and sharing news we have to do so in an unbiased, neutral way.

 

There are times where you may have to click on a link to view news; this type of fake news is made by people wanting to advertise or sell something. The link you first clicked on, may have nothing to do with the headline.

 

Real news organisations may make a mistake and publish a news story that are later revealed to be not true – when this happens these organisations will take the story back and present the true facts.  

 

How do you Spot Fake News?

 

Spotting fake news can be tricky, but these top tips may help in unearthing real news:

 

• Story – Can this story be found in other places? Is it reported in a similar way?

• Picture- Does the photograph or image match the story? Where did the picture come from? Memes are not generally used in news stories.

• Website – there are some URLs (web addresses) that are more trusted than others. Most trusted news may end with: “.com”, “.co.uk”, “.net”, “.gov”, “.org”, “.mil” and “.edu”. If the website doesn’t end any of there, they may be fake.

•  Quotes – Does the news story have any quotes from experts?

• Feelings – How does the story make you feel? Fake news often tries to manipulate the readers’ feelings. Beware of the shock feeling and think before you share.

• Sharing – Just because a news story has been shared by a friend or celebrity, does not mean it’s true.

 

Remember, when surfing the Internet – ‘Don’t believe everything you read’ and follow the tops tips for spotting the tricky fake news.