There are so many stories and pieces of information flying around on the internet that it can be hard to know what鈥檚 real and what鈥檚 fake.
Broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake looks at some simple steps which will help separate fact from fiction online.
Student: Fake news nowadays, it鈥檚 that widespread and you can鈥檛 tell what鈥檚 real or fake.
Student: It affects my mindset on me actually trusting the news itself.
Student: If it鈥檚 not from a credible source, like if it鈥檚 on Google and it鈥檚 not got the padlock on I normally don鈥檛 trust it.
Student: Most news is fake news.
Student: I think it鈥檚 everywhere and you don鈥檛 really realise it.
Nihal Arthanayake: These days you鈥檙e bombarded with an ever increasing amount of news and information, and because the internet is not regulated this can lead to these emotional grabby headlines, you can have these shocking videos, GIFs and memes. In a world of news, what is real and what is not? So when we鈥檙e dating, we do a bit of online detective work to decide whether we should meet up with someone or not. Well with news it鈥檚 no different; we have to research, therefore we can decide whether the story can be trusted 鈥 or not.
Nihal Arthanayake: So, I鈥檝e got a couple of stories here which our willing crew have had a look at to see whether they鈥檙e fact or fake. Now the first story is this one: 鈥淕reenpeace Activist Gets Arm Bitten Off After Hugging a White Shark鈥. What do they make of this?
Student: The bottom image sort of looked like it could be off stock images, and for some reason the Twitter up there is in English at the top and then all the rest of it is in a different language.
Student: Other news stories are like really strange, like 鈥淗airdresser Arrested for Making Voodoo Dolls From Customers Hair鈥. They all just seem a bit far-fetched.
Nihal Arthanayake: So fact or fake? Ha, they think this one is fake. So let鈥檚 see what they think about this story: 鈥淥bama Signs Executive Order Declaring Investigation Into Election Results; Revote Planned for December the 19th鈥. So, fact or fake?
Student: It鈥檚 actually by someone it鈥檚 says who it鈥檚 by and we could do like a search on like who he is, to see if he鈥檚 an actual journalist.
Student: I think it鈥檚 a fake website cause I swear 鈥淎BC鈥 is in capitals normally.
Student: Looks like they just copied and pasted like a few things to make it look sort of believable.
Nihal Arthanayake: Ok so is this fact or fake?
Nihal Arthanayake: Some ingenious thinking there but let鈥檚 see if they鈥檙e on track with some top tips from our fact checking expert.
Claire Milne: What are people trying to tell you with the information that you鈥檙e reading? Is it a news story, is it an advert, are they trying to sell you something. Is it meant to be a joke?
Claire Milne: Is it an opinion piece that鈥檚 just giving their point of view on something, is there someone named, is it an organisation that you perhaps recognise and can find out more about?
Claire Milne: Look for things that might show that it鈥檚 not quite right, it鈥檚 full of typos or the URL doesn鈥檛 look quite right or it鈥檚 not one that you鈥檙e necessarily familiar with.
Claire Milne: It could be that it was something that was from several years ago, that was correct at the time but now it no longer applies because the information is no longer accurate.
Nihal Arthanayake: So have the tips told them anything that鈥檚 confirmed their opinions?
Student: It said on the video that if it had anything after the 鈥.com鈥 then it鈥檚 not a real news source and it has 鈥.co鈥 after it, so鈥
Nihal Arthanayake: And the other story, what about the language?
Student: 鈥淪harks can be affectionate an cuddly when they鈥檙e calm鈥.
Student: I don鈥檛 think they are affectionate and cuddly, they might not be aggressive, but they鈥檙e not affectionate and cuddly.
Student: There鈥檚 not even someone who鈥檚 wrote the piece, like it doesn鈥檛 say it.
Nihal Arthanayake: They are right! Both of these stories are fake.
Students: Woooo!
Nihal Arthanakaye: If you don鈥檛 want to be tricked by fake news then you need to do your own detective work by using our top tips or visiting a fact checking website. Why not pause before you share and think if what you鈥檙e sharing is fact or fake?
Don鈥檛 let fake news fool you 鈥 use these four tips to check anything you read online that you are not sure about:
- The story 鈥 what are they trying to say? Is it an ad or a joke? Look to see if you can find the same story somewhere else
- The author 鈥 is it someone鈥檚 opinion or a fact? Real news will most likely have a link to the writer鈥檚 details, but if there鈥檚 no author, dig deeper
- The website 鈥 are there spelling or grammar mistakes? What鈥檚 the URL? Check the address bar at the top 鈥 most trusted URLs end with 鈥.com鈥, 鈥.co.uk鈥, 鈥.net鈥, 鈥.gov鈥, 鈥.org鈥, 鈥.mil鈥 and 鈥.edu鈥
- The date 鈥 is the story recent or old? It could be outdated or a copy of something that happened years ago. Computer programs called bots post anytime and often, so be wary of this.
Where next?
Be social media smart: Is seeing believing?
大象传媒 newsreader Tina Daheley looks at how to check what can and can鈥檛 be believed.
Fake news and 大象传媒 Young Reporter
As part of 大象传媒 Young Reporter, top journalists give you the lowdown on how to weigh up what鈥檚 real and what鈥檚 fake.
What are deepfakes and how do they work?
大象传媒 My World presenter Radzi Chinyanganya dives into the scary world of deepfake technology.
Fact or Fake?
Find out how to spot and stop fake news with 大象传媒 Bitesize.
