How to Outsmart Fake News in Your Facebook Feed

CNN
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Just because it’s on the internet it doesn’t make it true. It seems so simple, but if everyone knew it, Facebook and Google wouldn’t have to extract fake news sites from their advertising algorithms and people wouldn’t breathlessly share stories claiming that Donald Trump is a secretive lizard or that Hillary Clinton is an android in a pantsuit.

It doesn’t have to be this way. fake news is actually very easy to spot – if you know how. Consider this your Guide to New Media Literacy.

NOTE: As we prepare this, we sought input from two communications experts: Dr. Melissa Zimdarsassociate professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts whose dynamic list of unreliable news sites has gone viral and Alexios Manzarlisthe boss of the International fact-checking network at the Poynter Institute.

Zimdars says sites with strange suffixes such as “.co” or “.su”, or that are hosted on third-party platforms like WordPress, should be a red flag. Some fake sites, like National Report, have legitimate, if not too general, names that can easily fool people on social sites. For example, several false reports on abcnews.com.co went viral before being debunked, including a June article claiming that President Obama signed an order banning the sale of assault weapons.

Mantzarlis says that one of the main reasons fake news spreads on Facebook is because people get sucked into a headline and don’t bother clicking.

Just this week, several dubious organizations circulated a story about Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi. “Pepsi Stock Plunges After CEO Tells Trump Supporters To ‘Take Your Business Elsewhere,’” proclaimed one such headline.

However, the articles themselves did not contain that quote or evidence that Pepsi stock experienced a significant drop (it did not). Nooyi made recorded comments on Trump’s election, but it was never quoted telling his followers to “take your business elsewhere.”

Sometimes legitimate news can be misrepresented and resurrected years after the fact to create a false combination of events. Mantzarlis recalls an erroneous story that was actually quoting a legitimate CNNMoney story.

A blog called Viral Liberty recently reported that Ford had moved production of some of its trucks from Mexico to Ohio due to Donald Trump’s election victory. The story quickly caught fire online; after all, it seemed like a great victory for the national auto industry.

It turns out that Ford moved some of the manufacturing from Mexico to Ohio. in 2015. It had nothing to do with the election results at all.

Photos and videos can also be taken out of context to support a false claim. In April, the liberal website Occupy Democrats posted a video that allegedly showed a young woman being dragged out of a bathroom by police for not looking feminine enough. This was during the height of the HB2 “bathroom law” controversy, and the article clearly linked the two. “BEGIN,” read the headline.

However, there was no date on the video and no evidence that it was filmed in North Carolina, where the “bathroom bill” would pass.

In fact, according to snopesthe same video was posted to a Facebook page in 2015, meaning it predates the HB2 controversy.

It’s not just political news that can be fake. Now8News is one of the most infamous fake-looking-real sites, specializing in the kind of bizarre news that often goes viral.

One such article claims that Coca-Cola recalled Dasani water bottles after a “clear parasite” was found in the water. There was even a disgusting picture attached that supposedly showed the parasite, although some basic Google searches reveals that it is most likely a photo of a young eel.

Regardless, the article had no statement or claim by any company. Clearly, this would be a great story. Dasani or any number of consumer advocacy groups would put out statements or press releases about it, right? None can be found, because the story is 100% false.

A favorite meme of liberal Facebook groups features a fake quote from Donald Trump that is supposed to be from a 1998 People magazine interview:

“If I were to run, I would run as a Republican. They are the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. He could lie and they would still eat him. I bet my numbers would be fantastic.”

This one is easily debunked if you take a moment to think about it: People.com has extensive archives, and this one the quote is nowhere to be found in them.

During this election season, Pope Francis found himself involved in three super viral and completely false stories. According to several (fake) websites, the Pope endorsed three US presidential candidates: First, Bernie Sanders, as “reported” by National Report and USAToday.com.co. Then Donald Trump, as “reported” by the fake news site WTOE 5 News. Finally, another fake news site, KYPO6.com, reported that he had endorsed Hillary Clinton!

In all of these cases, all subsequent reports came back to be false. always is good trace a story back to the original sourceand if you find yourself in a loop, or if they all lead to the same dubious place, you have reason to doubt.

Both Zimdars and Mantzarlis say confirmation bias is a big reason Fake news spreads the way it does. Some of that is built into Facebook’s algorithm: the more you like or engage with a certain interest, the more Facebook will show you related to that interest.

Similarly, if you hate Donald Trump, you are more likely to believe that the negative stories about Donald Trump are true, even if there is no evidence.

“We look for information that already fits our established beliefs,” says Zimdars. “If we come into contact with information that we don’t agree with, you can still reassure us because we will try to find fault.”

So if you come across an outrageous article that feels “too good to be true,” be warned: it just might be.

Did you know that there is actually a International fact-checking network (who leads Mantzarlis)? And what has a code of principles? The code includes the ideals of impartiality and transparency, among others. Sites like FactCheck.org, Snopes, and Politifact adhere to this code, so if you see a debunk there, you know you’re getting the real deal. See the whole list here.

this is where things can get complicated. Obviously, there is a big difference between “misleading” news, which is usually based on fact, and “fake” news, which is just fiction disguised as fact. The now famous list of Zimdars covers both types, as well as satire and sites that take advantage of clickbait headlines. Snopes also maintains a list.

While Zimdars is glad his list has gotten so much attention, he also cautions that dismissing some of the sites as “fake” entirely isn’t accurate. “I want to make sure that this list doesn’t do a huge disservice to the end goal,” she says. “It is interesting that some of the headlines [about my list] they are as hyperbolic as the ones I am analyzing”.