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Introduction
Have you ever been scrolling through Twitter or driving down the highway, and see a tweet or a billboard that just doesn’t seem quite right? The billboard announces some outlandish statistics, the Twitter post is a link to a site full of propaganda. All of these things may raise a red flag, but as you read it seems to be a true story, yet something is amiss.
This is the fake news dilemma of our generation. We are constantly bombarded with news from a varying degree of sources: news from left wing politics, news from volatile social groups, conspiracy stories, and satirical articles. Everyday we read and glance over countless stories, some credible, and others completely false, only made to spark interest and nothing else. Fake news is a danger to us and can spread false information like wildfire among social media users. It can ignite anger and induce hysteria between friends and relatives. This must be met with critical thinking and knowledge of how to spot it.
In this chapter we will dive into how fake news is presented and how to pinpoint these inaccuracies. As a result, you will be better at equipping yourself in the academic realm as well as the future workforce.
We will also explore how this fake news phenomenon has impacted college students in this year of ‘Zoom University’ and online learning.
Connection to STS Theory
The concept of fake news relates heavily to the Tragedy of the Commons, which is a theory that describes a situation where one party exploits the shared resources of a group of people, which eventually leads to a depletion or downfall. This is analogous to the “politicians” or the news sources behind the propaganda that sabotage the greater good of the people by commercializing misinformation that causes a lack of information and trust from the public. A mutual relationship between the news and the public is important for society, but this Tragedy of the Commons scenario is creating a one-sided relationship that can potential hinder the growth of a society.
How to Spot Fake News
Identifying fake news may seem easy in theory, but once in practice it can be much more difficult. Fake news is designed to seem accurate, with inconspicuous details that could reveal the truth.
False information, particularly false news that is politically backed, has a few key indicators that raise the question of its accuracy. In order to properly spot fake news, one must ask questions to determine the validity. The questions to ask yourself revolve around the article’s purpose and emotional appeal. Is it highly controversial? Is it political? Is it breaking news? All of these questions create a pause and reflection process, to determine if the said article is factual or simply a flashy headline to attract the reader. Hyperbole, clickbait, and “viral” stories have the potential to propagate a simple false article to millions of people in a matter of hours, lacking any reliable information.
In order to arm yourself against possible fake news threats, a compiled set of points has been created for you to use as a checklist when determining the “facts”.
A Breakdown of What To Look For
- Consider the source from which you found the article
- Do more than read the article, navigate through the website the article was posted to research its credibility and relation to the story.
- Example: Is the source biased? Check if the source has a particular political leaning, if so, this article may need some more support and research.
- Read Beyond
- Headlines are designed to attract attention, go deeper than the headline to fully understand the story.
- Example: Magazines at the checkout line are meant to catch your eye. They start with wild accusations to draw you in and read more. Reading past the headline is the first way you can combat fake news.
- Check the Author
- Research the author and their credentials in order to gain a fuller understanding of their background.
- What else have they written? Have they been writing for the publisher for some time? Are they writing on their own website? All of these questions can help you determine if the author is credible or not.
- Sources to Support Claims
- Clink on embedded links and sources cited to determine if the story has legitimate support.
- No links/support? = may not be reliable.
- Are the links and support just as outlandish as the article itself? You may need to do some more research.
- Check the Date
- Relevancy and recency is key. Articles become outdated, new discoveries are made, and what was true may not be true anymore. Make sure to check the dates of articles published and ask yourself if it is recent enough to fact check.
- Newer articles are not always true but older, reposted articles, can be a red flag as well.
- Satire or Stat?
- If it seems “too good to be true”, it might be satire. Research the source to ascertain if all the information has been “tested” or if it’s only goal is to “entertain”
- Example: The Onion is an infamous satire journal that publishes pieces that raise eyebrows but are still somewhat plausible. Do your homework and make sure your specific piece of news is not from a site such as this.
- Check you Biases
- Reflect on your view point and determine if this could affect your outlook on the story.
- Biases are present and unavoidable, make sure to take a step back and attempt to research your sources without a tainted view.
- Seek Help from Experts
- If you are skeptical about the reliability of a source, reach out to professionals or even ask the library for help.
- Example: Librarians are a great resource when it comes to research Reach out to your librarian or professor if you need some additional guidance.
A Deeper Dive in Fact Checking – The Technical Side
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- For those tech-savvy enough to do extensive background checks, the technical side of online news sources can aid in determining a story’s validity.
- Always check the domain name. Factual sources have business level domain names that match the sources organization. If something seems “off” about the organization in question, it might be fake news.
- Visit the “about us” or “contact us” page, typically listed at the bottom of the website. If this is absent, there’s a good chance it is fake news.
- Inspect the website design. A website lacking in style and professional user experience, can be a sign that it was not created by a legitimate organization and could be used simply to spread false information.
- Do your research on the images if their origin is listed in the article. Images can be tampered with and edited to attract attention and can be a tell-tale sign of false information.
COVID-19 Relation to Fake News
With the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration passing last month (March 2021), it is beneficial to reflect about the misinformation or the myths spread about the pandemic. It was undoubtedly nerve-racking to read a seemingly accurate statistical headline about numbers of cases, mortality percentage, age ranges, and other terrifying ‘so-called’ facts about the virus. False or exaggerated information and non-credible remedies circulated the internet and social media platforms constantly, which spread lies and fear among people. Oftentimes, the information spread by people countered factual and legitimate information released by the CDC and government agencies. This discrepancy in information caused mass confusion and mistrust among people and organizations. The battle against the pandemic was accompanied by a battle in rejecting fake news and identifying misinformation. 
Fake news and misinformation has been around long before the existence of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has perpetuated this problem and taken it to heights that we had not previously seen before, where powerful political leaders were exacerbating the problem for political gain by using scare tactics or fear-mongering. The fake news problem that we have faced throughout this pandemic was higher stakes than other instances of fake news because misinformation or false remedies spread about the pandemic may have lead to serious medical implications.
Myths surrounding COVID-19
One myth that experts debunked regarding COVID-19 is whether or not strong sunlight can protect individuals from contracting COVID-19. This myth started with then President Trump suggesting that strong sunlight (temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit) or UV light would help to kill COVID. While this is not entirely untrue, UV light does kill COVID, it is impossible to get UV light safely into your body because it is blocked by the skin. This type of suggestion was not only detrimental to people that followed it because of the increased susceptibility to UV light, but it also encouraged people to leave their house and potentially break social distancing guidelines.
Another myth surrounding COVID-19 was that consuming alcohol helps to stop the virus from replicating in the body. In Iran, 700 individuals died after following this ‘remedy’ by consuming methanol to wash the virus out of their body. While alcohol is a good disinfectant and can be effectively used to slow the spread of the virus, it should be used strictly on hands. The amount of alcohol that it would take to kill the virus while inside the body is fatal for people.
Additionally, a social media trend arose that claimed that an individual with the virus could not hold their breath for ten seconds without coughing or discomfort. This is also not true, as the ability to hold your breath varies from person to person depending on outside factors. This trend was dangerous to individuals who misdiagnosed themselves as not having COVID-19 and potentially spread it in the event that they could hold their breath for ten seconds.
A conspiracy theory was also a factor in spreading false information regarding the virus in saying 5g cell towers caused the virus. Conspiracy theorists in the United Kingdom even went so far as to burn down cell towers. This was also a myth as experts concluded that the virus is spread only through droplets, which could mean through the air, through direct contact with an infected person, or through touching an object with contaminated droplets on its surface.
Fighting the Misinformation Pandemic
Many of the problems regarding fake news and misinformation surrounding COVID-19 have been intertwined with powerful individuals being wrong or social media perpetuating false remedies or false information. In fighting the misinformation pandemic, it is important that we first hold our politicians accountable and not allow them to create a divide between their constituents. Social media networks should also be held accountable for allowing misinformation to spread and continue working to create fact checking software that suppresses false information from spreading. Most importantly, information from health officials and the CDC/WHO should be trusted over non-scientific sources that claim information contradictory to health officials.
COVID-19, Fake News, and College Students – Still making some final edits on this
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, most colleges have moved to a virtual learning environment for student and faculty safety. This transition has impacted the value of students’ education and their mental health. In these trying times with students off campus and fake news circulating, students needed a way to decipher between real news and misinformation.
Fake news has mental and emotional effects on people, and during these consequential times it is important that students are able to discern between truth and fiction. For example, if a student is to read an article that talks about a way to test yourself for COVID at home that turns out to be false, that individual may think they have tested negative and could potentially spread the virus around campus.
Resources on Fake News for College Students
With this issue potentially threatening the safety of students and faculty members, colleges and universities are beginning to offer “subject librarians” that are trained in information literacy and help students decipher between real and fake news in these times where almost everything is virtual. This guidance is not only important for getting reliable information regarding COVID-19, but they help students get information from reliable sources that are needed for personal assignments.
This resource is incredibly important for many students, as studies have shown that roughly 45% of college students doubt their ability to recognize misinformation on social media or the internet. Additionally, 72% of college aged students get their daily news/information from social media websites such as: facebook, youtube, snapchat, instagram, and twitter. It is also much easier to fabricate information on various social media websites that do not fact check for you; additionally, people scrolling through social media are much less likely to fact check articles that they see on the app. People or accounts students follow on social media also can provide a bias on the news. For instance, people following more right wing individuals may tend to get news biased towards the right wing; and vice versa with left wing accounts.
With the influx of fake news since the COVID-19 pandemic began, college students now distrust news that they see more than ever. It is discouraging and nearly impossible for students to have to spend as much time finding a reliable source as they do reading the news. The addition of resources provided by colleges and universities will help to create a safer environment on campus as far as public health is concerned, as well as informing a population of young voters.
With the increase in social media usage due to the quarantine, students getting their news from social media will continue to rise, making subject librarians and other resources offered by colleges even more important. With the help of fake news deciphering resources, students hopefully will be able to make more informed decisions about their safety, and college experience.
Clemson’s Response: Spot the Troll
Considering the impacts of COVID-19 on the spread of fake news, Clemson associate professors, Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren, created an online quiz with the goal of teaching people how to spot internet “trolls” online (Mintzer, 2020). Interestingly, Linvill points out that misinformation is often less extreme than one may expect, using persuasion to “‘take you in the direction you already wanted to go… and try to take advantage of it’” (Mintzer, 2020).
Chapter Questions
- Can you think of a time in the past year when you read an article and thought for a moment, I wonder if this is true?
- Summarize how you can spot fake news
- Identify some biases you have and how they impact your perception of the news
- Ask yourself…
- Did you witness any of these COVID-19 myths circulating throughout the past year?
- Were you or someone you know deceived by any of these false remedies for COVID-19?
Supplementary Materials
Factitious: Pandemic Edition – fake news spotting game
SmarterEveryDay Social Media Manipulation Playlist
References
2018.01_News.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G3Uk5v1gp_uwMUkF6Lm-yTIPgdBxpTgr/view?usp=sharing
Can you spot fake news in the time of COVID-19? (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2020/can-you-spot-fake-news-in-the-time-of-covid-19
Cher, A. (2020, May 01). Don’t hold your breath. experts debunk dangerous myths about the coronavirus. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/experts-explain-why-coronavirus-myths-misinformation-can-be-dangerous.html
Fake news: Identifying fake news. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://learn.library.ryerson.ca/fakenews/identify
Gibbens, S. (2021, February 10). The ‘infodemic’ of COVID-19 MISINFORMATION, EXPLAINED. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/10/guide-to-overcoming-coronavirus-misinformation-infodemic/
Mintzer, A. (2020, October 27). Can you spot fake news online? Take this quiz to find out. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.wistv.com/2020/10/27/can-you-spot-fake-news-online-take-this-quiz-find-out/
Https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/info-society/image s/how_to_spot_fake. (n.d.).
Image 1:
Red Bank Public Library How to Spot Fake News: A Resource Page — Red Bank Public Library [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.redbanklibrary.org/program-resource-pages/fake-news
Image 2:
The Inevitable Coronavirus Censorship Crisis is Here- TK News by Matt Tiabi [Digital Image]. 30 Apr. 2020. Retrieved from taibbi.substack.com/p/temporary-coronavirus-censorship
