Fakes and provocations, unfortunately, became a reality of the modern innovative world. Each of us faces them, so we need to learn how to recognize them.
The main task of a fake – shortly, clearly, with mottos and snatched pictures “to infect” people with, in the main, negative emotion for everyone to spread it, and further – a snowball effect.
Therefore, it is very important to realize that, unfortunately, not all social media content is reliable and contains proven facts. This means that it is important to have tools to determine the authenticity of the news, so as not to become a hostage to contradictory and often false information.
How to recognize false (fake) news?
1. Check the source and author.
Check the address of the page where the news is posted. If the address contains spelling errors or rare domain extensions are used, then the source is unreliable.
2. Check the facts and authenticity of the images.
Reliable news usually includes a lot of verifiable factual data, quotations of experts, etc. False information materials often contain incorrect references, dates or changed terms, so it is recommended to check these data. Images on social networks can be edited or changed. Possible signs of image editing include deformation (straight lines in the background appear curved), strange shadows, uneven edges and an unrealistically perfect skin tone. In addition, the image can be real but used in a misleading context.
3. Rate the comments, maintaining critical thinking.
Even a real article or video may not have any comments. Often, links and comments to an article can be automatically created by bots or users hired to post misleading information. A sign of this is the similarity of comments.
4. Check other sources.
Do other sources report this fact? Does the article use citation with references to authoritative information sources? Does the article refer to reliable sources? Always use reliable news websites or information from government news agencies and media outlets. Double-check the statements of officials.
Useful resources for verifying information
It is extremely important to rely on the official media – under the media law they are responsible for the posted news.