The terms ‘fake news’ and ‘ fake information’ get used a lot, but what exactly do we mean when these terms are used.
Lots of things you can encounter online, especially in your social media feeds, may appear to be true, but often are not. False information can be news, stories or hoaxes created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers.
Usually, these stories are created to either influence people’s views, push a political agenda or cause confusion and can often be a profitable business for online publishers. False information can deceive people by looking like trusted websites or using similar names and web addresses to reputable news organisations.
During the Covid pandemic, the Irish Health Service had to post a guide on how to not be fooled by fake health information being issued on the internet: HSE and Fake Health News
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