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What is "Fake News"?
Narrowly defined, “fake news” is news that is completely made up, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes. However, “fake news” is a complex and nuanced problem. The term itself has become politicized, and is widely used to discredit any opposing viewpoint. Some people use it to cast doubt on their opponents, controversial issues or the credibility of some media organizations. In addition, technological advances such as the widespread use of social media, bots, and AI (artificial intelligence) enable fake news stories to proliferate quickly and easily.
Misinformation and Disinformation
The universe of “fake news” is much larger than simply false news stories. Some stories may have a nugget of truth, but lack any contextualizing details. They may not include any verifiable facts or sources. Some stories may include basic verifiable facts, but are written using language that is deliberately inflammatory, leaves out pertinent details or only presents one viewpoint. "Fake news" exists within a larger ecosystem of misinformation and disinformation.
Misinformation
False or inaccurate information that is mistakenly or inadvertently created or spread
Intent is not to deceive
Disinformation
Claire Wardle of First Draft News has created the helpful visual image below to help us think about the ecosystem of mis- and disinformation. And as she points out, "it's complicated."
Where Does it Come From and Why?
Misinformation and disinformation is produced for a variety of complex reasons:
The technological ease of copying, pasting, clicking and sharing content online has helped misinformation and disinformation to proliferate. Generative AI makes it easy for anyone to create extremely believable fake images and news stories. Stories are often designed to provoke an emotional response and placed on certain sites ("seeded") in order to entice readers into sharing them widely. In other cases, "fake news" articles may be generated and disseminated by "bots" - computer algorithms that are designed to act like people sharing information, but can do so quickly and automatically.
Accessible Text Equivalent of 7 Types of Mis- and Disinformation
Accessible Text Equivalent: FirstDraft: 7 Types of Mis- and Disinformation
Seven types of content, arranged on a loose scale measuring intent to deceive. Going from less intent to definite intent to deceive, these are the types of content:
Satire or Parody
No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool
When headlines, visuals or captions don't support the content
Misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual
When genuine content is shared with false contextual information
When genuine sources are impersonated
When genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive
New content is 100% false, designed to deceive and do harm
Source: FirstDraft News