Long before the era of social media and the internet, George Bernard Shaw said ‘Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance’.
By now all of us are familiar with the term fake news. It is not a new concept but it is certainly increasing in volume. Bogus stories are easy to distribute via social media platforms, messaging apps, and emails. Remember the so-called announcements about when the President will address the nation about the lockdown stages and all the not-so-true infographics about the stage announcements? The COVID-19 pandemic provided fertile ground for spreading fake news. Advancements in technology provide lots of opportunities to create fake news. An example is deepfake videos. The article in Popular Mechanics by Kristina Libby entitled Deepfakes Are Amazing. They're Also Terrifying for Our Future provides more information on this issue.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) compiled a useful infographic with eight simple steps on ‘How to spot fake news'. The eight steps are:
Consider the source
Read beyond
Check the author
Supporting sources
Check the date
Is it a joke?
Check your biases
Ask the experts
The infographic is available here and is based on the article by Eugen Kiely and Lori Robertson, entitled How to Spot Fake News. More details on the eight steps to identify fake news are available in the article.
One of the eight steps mentioned in the Infographic is to Ask an Expert. This step refers to fact checkers. The website of International Fact-Checking Network, a unit of the Poynter Institute at https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/, provides valuable information on this subject. Wikipedia provides a list of fact checkers at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fact-checking_websites.
Africa Check, at https://africacheck.org/, is Africa's first independent fact-checking organisation. A checklist of fact-checking tips is available on the Africa Check website at https://africacheck.org/how-to-fact-check/tips-and-advice/. “What’s Crap on WhatsApp,” is a voice note podcast produced by Africa Check and podcast company Volume. The podcast is sent directly to subscribers on Whatsapp. It summarises the latest viral rumours submitted to Africa Check for evaluation.
We are unfortunately all exposed to misinformation and unsubstantiated stories. Critical evaluation and assessment of content are becoming essential. A healthy dose of scepticism is necessary to determine whether what you see and read can be trusted. Think before you believe what you see, read or hear, and certainly before you share.
The following resources provide further information on this topic:
Adjin-Tettey, TD and Johnston, KM. Combating fake news, disinformation, and misinformation: detrimental evidence for media literacy education. – 2022 9(1) Cogent Arts & Humanities - https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2022.2037229
Kim B [et al.] A systematic review on fake news research through the lens of news creation and consumption: research efforts, challenges, and future directions. – 2021 16(12) PLoS ONE 16(12) - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260080
Molina, Maria D [et al.] "Fake news" is not simply false information: a concept explication and taxonomy of online content. – 2019 Oct 14 American Behavioral Scientist - https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219878224
Pennycook, G and Rand, DG. The psychology of fake news. – 2021 May 25(5) Trends in Cognitive Sciences - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.02.007
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Journalism, ‘fake news’ & disinformation: handbook for journalism education and training. – UNESCO, 2018 -https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/journalism_fake_news_disinformation_print_friendly_0.pdf
Updated: 4 August 2022
Originally posted: 2020