Recognize & Combat Fake "News"

“Fake news” is big news these days. While not entirely new, misleading and flat-out false information being presented as fact has become far more widespread over the last few years, and the repercussions have been serious. In 2016, a fake news story about Hillary Clinton leading a child-trafficking ring headquartered in a Washington, DC, pizzeria led a man to fire an assault rifle inside the restaurant.
Other fake news stories have impacted U.S. elections, our healthcare policies, the national economy ($130 billion in stock value temporarily vanished when nervous investors sold securities because of a hacker’s false Associated Press tweet claiming that an “explosion” had injured President Obama), individual finances (58 percent of Americans believe that fake news is a serious threat to their financial decision-making) and even personal health.
Consumer Action’s recently published Fake news: Recognizing and stemming misinformation is written to help consumers evaluate the accuracy of what they read or hear and refrain from spreading false stories. Thanks to the internet and social media, misinformation that decades ago might have been heard or read by relatively few can now reach millions of people around the world in a matter of minutes. While companies such as Facebook and Google have made efforts to prevent fake news from “going viral,” informed consumers are the best gatekeepers when it comes to stopping its proliferation.
To help consumers fulfill their critical role in stemming fake news, the new publication covers:

• The different forms fake news can take, from propaganda and hyper-partisan stories to factual misstatements and misidentified satire;
• How to vet a story, from looking for telltale signs of fakery to using the internet and tech tools to verify sources, facts and photos;
• The “dos and don’ts” of dealing with fake news; and
• A dozen resources—articles, websites and tech tools—that further empower individuals to avoid, spot, vet and stop fake news.

Fake news: Recognizing and stemming misinformation is available as a free PDF download from the Consumer Action website. The publication, which was created with a grant from Google, will also be available in Spanish by the end of November.
Thanks to Consumer Action for the entire direct quote above!