Fake News

Most of us share news and stories on social media with our friends.

We all share things for different reasons. Perhaps it's an interesting story, news about an athlete or a celebrity that you adore, or something that made you laugh.

Not everything that we read or see on the internet is true - and if it isn't, and we share it, we could be making more people believe something that is actually made up. Stories like this are called fake news.

What is Fake News?
Fake news is news or stories on the internet that are not true.

Fake news is untrue statements uploaded online or on newspapers with the promise that it is a genuine fact.

People write fake news in hopes of getting attention.

They write about popular topics and make everything unnaturally dramatic because then people that believe their stuff will be a lot more touched and afraid of these topics, which the creators can take advantage of and put out more content on said topic.
They'll then read their content even more and give them revenue in the form of advertisements.

Why is Fake news a problem?

Fake news is a problem for different reasons.

The first kind of fake news - deliberate lies - is a problem because it can make people believe things that are completely untrue.

The second kind - when people publish something without checking that it's completely right - can make people have less trust in the media, as well as make everyone believe something that might be inaccurate.

People also only tend to share things that they agree with. So if people are sharing a lot of fake news, and lots of people believe it, it's easy to get sucked into a bubble that is actually completely different to the real world - and a long way from the truth. (Source: BBC)

Sometimes, a story might be called fake news (when actually it isn't) by someone, or a group of people, who don't want to accept that the news is true - even if it might be.

They will tell people that a story is fake, just because they don't want it to be true.

Some people will call things fake news, when really they just have a different opinion.

Calling something fake news, when it isn't really, is a problem as it can mean some people don't know what to believe anymore. (Source: BBC)