Biased Information and Fake News

The ease of creating websites, blogs, and other information portals has changed the way we get our news stories. It has led to an internet of biased information and fake news. Having no basis in truth or reality, misinformation, biased, and misleading, are all characteristics of modern-day news reporting. A society based on lies and half-truths always fails. You only have to look at the history of the great nations such as Rome and others to see where modern society is being led by online technology.

News and Politics

I never had noticed how biased news reporting had become until the presidential race in 2020. It became obvious that major news networks were no longer unbiased information sources. In the desperate attempt to meet bottom-line quotas major news networks have fallen prey to corruption in its worst form. They do not report fake news, but they do report information that is misleading to the general populace. By taking sides in presidential elections major news companies or now deciding the fate of America.

These stations appeared against Trump and were anti-conservative – ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC. While these appeared to be neutral or pro-Trump, OAN, Newsmax, and FOX.

This type of reporting bled over into bloggers actually making up fake news and posting to social media.

This led to the fact-checkers on Facebook, Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck, and many more standalone groups along with fact-checking programs on major company websites. The problem is that once something has been said and read by thousands of readers the truth really never becomes 100% transparent even with the fact-checkers.

Fake News

With so many sources of information online, it is difficult to understand what content is based on facts, half-truths, or lies. Using digital platforms to share things that we believe to be real, although they may not be, can have a powerful domino effect, influencing others to see them as facts.

This can be especially dangerous for children and adolescents who may be persuaded to adopt distorted views of the world that may harm them or others in the real world. This page explains what fake news is and how it can affect those who view it.

Definitions of fake news

False information or tales on the internet. They might take the form of misinformation or deception.

Disinformation

False information is created and shared with the purpose of intentionally causing harm.

Misinformation

Generally used for misleading information created or disseminated without intentionally causing harm.

Fake news imitates legitimate news sources using technology and social media. Organizations and political parties may use news-like adverts to target you. Hackers employ bots, or computer programs, to establish many social media profiles and distribute misinformation. Because it appears that so many people have shared the bogus news, it may appear to be true.

Fake social media accounts and posts aid in the spread of misinformation. Real journalists will sometimes publish this as fact. The distinction between fact and fiction blurs when it becomes news.

Fake news, on the other hand, delivers strong, often prejudiced viewpoints. It can also target people who are most likely to agree with these viewpoints in order to reinforce them. Algorithms, sophisticated bits of software that push you to read stuff similar to what you already share, amplify the “echo chamber” effect. These algorithms are frequently hacked or manipulated by hackers.

Fake news examples

Hackers, politicians, trolls, ad companies, and even governments encourage it since they all have an excellent grasp of how the internet works. This means it comes in a variety of forms and sizes making it very difficult to recognize.

Fake Documents (scam news sites)

They look like traditional online newspapers, but they are not – they often display manipulated images and videos.

Click baits

These are posts, articles, and videos that you can see on social channels or on websites that contain dramatic headlines or claims about free positions or results to get as many people as possible to click on the article, ie “You won’t believe what …”. They can have eye-catching images, and emotional or humorous tones to get people’s attention.

Misleading advertising

Ads that contain fraudulent or false claims.

Hackers

This refers to an individual who uses their skills to gain unauthorized access to systems and networks in order to commit crimes such as identity theft or often holding systems hostage in order to collect a ransom.

Sensationalism

Sensational headlines are designed to get you spreading the story without reading it.

Satirical / comedy sites

They have no intention of doing you any harm, but they can confuse people that the content is genuine (examples: Onion website or Daily Mash).

Bots

While this is not an example of fake news, these are fake profiles, mostly on social media, that are created to spread fake news using automated technology.

Misleading Content

Articles or news that use false facts to distort a specific problem or person.

Phishing

Typically, these are fake emails, text messages, or websites that pretend to come from a reputable organization in order to get hold of someone’s personal information.

Deepfakes

This is when technology is used to recreate a person’s facial movements live in video and audio to make it look real. Some of these movies became popular when famous people such as President Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg were impersonated in fake clips.

Fake Accounts

These are accounts that use false online identities to mislead or manipulate public opinion. Sometimes these are used with what looks like famous people.

How do fake news and disinformation affect children and young people?

Exposure to disinformation can reduce wider trust in the media, making it difficult to learn facts or fiction in the future. When we come to believe that there is a possibility that anything could be false, it is easier to disregard what is actually true. This is a real concern about the impact of fake news on our children and young people.

According to the National Literacy Trust Fake News and Critical Literacy Report more than half of 12-15-year-olds visit social media as a constant source of news. And while only a third believe the stories on social media are true, it is estimated that only 2% of school-age children have basic critical reading skills to distinguish true from fake news.

Half of the children asked, admitting they were worried about fake news. The teachers surveyed in this case noticed a real increase in problems related to anxiety, self-esteem, and general distortion of worldviews. Children ‘s trust in news, social media interactions, and politicians is generally weakening.

Some false stories can make a real difference in our children’s lives. The so-called “anti-vaccine” movement. The false fear of Momo, and the recent fake news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. These are examples of the different ways that fake news feeds on our emotions and our children’s emotions.

The children interviewed express concern that on the Internet they do not know who to trust. They do not know what is real, and which forms of knowledge are real. Almost all children are online now. Many are not emotionally equipped to deal with the challenges of the online fake news culture. We cannot stop our children from surfing the internet, nor should we, it is an amazing resource. It is important that we teach them so that they can feel confident in the facts found on the Internet.

Synonyms – Other Words that describe present-day news reporting

Assumed, bent, bogus, crock, deceptive, delusive, fake, faked, fictitious, fishy, fraudulent.
Misleading, phony, pretentious, pseudo, two-faced, inauthentic, manufactured, make-believe.
Insincere, fabricated, contrived, invalid, unreal, trick, untrue, phony-baloney, not legit, double-dealing.
Trumped-up, not real, dishonest, hypocritical, worthless, made-up, backhanded, falsified, invented.
Deceiving, deceitful, inaccurate, erroneous, distorted, concocted, unfounded, untruthful, unsound.
Imaginary, incorrect, inexact, counterfactual, ruthless, facsimile, cooked-up, misrepresentation.
Hollow, fictional, imprecise, tricky, flawed, elusive, crooked, baseless, hoax, unreliable, unsubstantiated.
Faulty, imagined, underhand, treacherous, improper, shady, unscrupulous, unprincipled, cheating.
Illegal, lying, groundless, unproven, ungrounded, inexact, unfactual, nonfactual, unverified, not true.
Confusing, unauthenticated, questionable, evasive, untrustworthy, scheming, sneaky, plausible but wrong.
Insidious, dishonorable, unethical, corrupt, criminal, unfair, dirty unlawful, dodgy, unjust.

Adjectives

Having no basis in truth or reality, trumped-up false, specious, bogus, baseless, fictitious, fake.
Groundless, unfounded, unproven, unsubstantiated, without foundation, untrue, misleading, unsound.
Incorrect, invalid, fictitious, imaginary, fabricated, erroneous, deceptive, concocted, invented, misguided.
Inaccurate, made up, distorted, wrong, sham, inexact, untruthful, flawed, unsupported, mistaken.
Foundationless, uncorroborated, deceiving, fraudulent, deceitful, unreal, ungrounded, dishonest.
Ill-founded, cooked-up, unjustified, contrived, faulty, faked, questionable, unconfirmed, imprecise.
Unverified, conjectural, speculative, unreliable, fishy, counterfactual, with the truth not backed up by evidence, ruthless, misrepresentative.