Fake News Debate

Fake News | Rongo Tipatipa

Fake news is made-up information that tries to trick people into believing something that isn't true. It often uses shocking headlines or pictures to make the story seem real.

The term 'fake news' became really popular when Donald Trump, the former U.S. President, used it a lot. Whenever he didn’t like a news story, especially ones that were critical of him, he would call it 'fake news.' This made some people believe that certain news stories weren’t true, even when they were, causing confusion and making it harder to trust what we read in the media.

Most fake news is harmless

Fake news can be harmless and often doesn't have serious consequences. Many fake news stories are exaggerated or created for entertainment, such as celebrity rumors or light-hearted hoaxes. These types of stories may capture people's attention for a short time but generally don’t cause lasting harm. As long as people can recognise them as false, they are unlikely to be misled or negatively affected. In fact they can be quite entertaining.

Would satirical news come under the category of fake news?

Many hoax stories are designed to be click bait. Some of these have been used to lure people into clicking the link which leads to malware or viruses being installed on their computer or phone. This malware can take important information like login details etc. One of the best ways to prevent this from happening is knowing when something looks like a dodgy link, and not sharing the link with others!

Fake News Prompts Shooting Inside DC Pizzeria

The fake news story, a conspiracy theory known as 'Pizzagate,' led to a 28-year-old man storming a pizza restaurant with an assault rifle. The theory falsely claimed that a group of powerful politicians, including people connected to Hillary Clinton, were secretly running a child trafficking ring out of a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C. There was no evidence to support this theory, and it was completely made up. Despite this, some people believed it. The man threatened staff and demanded to know where the children were, insisting they open a basement, but later discovered there was no basement and no children involved in any crime.