How to protect yourself against fake news

It increasingly feels as though internet content is spiralling out of control.

Social media is now a politically charged hotbed of intolerance; trolling and online abuse are rampant and unchecked; AI is plagiarising copyrighted content without hindrance or consequence.

Even the news resembles a race to the bottom, with publishers chasing clicks through low-quality listicles, clickbait headlines and generic reposts of syndicated content.

Then we encounter the thorny issue of fake news, which has done incalculable damage to public trust and confidence.

The World Economic Forum has described misinformation and disinformation as “the biggest short-term threat to the global economy”.

Here’s how to protect yourself against fake news.

Fake it til you make it real

Fake news can take many forms, from published articles and blogs to deepfake video clips and photographs, via so-called expert commentary and ‘a friend told me’ gossip.

Fake news is generated and propagated for various purposes including stirring public unrest, pushing an agenda, damaging reputations or making a profit from cryptocurrency investment schemes.

It’s often distributed using bots on social media platforms, with wording carefully judged to maximise outrage alongside illegally copied graphics/captions/logos to suggest authenticity.

In the increasingly dystopian world of social media, a lie can travel around the world before the truth has been independently verified.

Even then, people may not care about the truth, since many social media users live in online echo chambers where they only see content aligning to their worldview.

While fake news often originates in countries hostile to our own, we’ve also recently seen news outlets deleting published stories because it transpired their ‘expert sources’ were simply made up.

An investigation by the UK’s Press Gazette found numerous examples of AI-generated comments from fictitious people being published everywhere from the Sun to the BBC.

Look beyond the headlines

Clickbait journalism is a loathsome practice which can be starved of oxygen simply by ignoring its many questionable headlines.

Any story on any platform which includes phrases like ‘you won’t believe’ or ‘this is shocking’ should be avoided. If you don’t click the link, the story doesn’t gain traction.

Be wary of content relating to polarised topics like immigration, politics or the culture wars. If they’re not from official new outlets, they’re unlikely to add to the sum of human knowledge.

If you do fall down an internet rabbit hole, read the whole story, since balance or nuance may be buried in subsequent paragraphs below hyperbolic titles designed to shock and enrage.

Ignore social media in favour of old media

While social media retains some useful attributes, it cannot – and must not – be relied upon as a source of genuine news, even though most young people are now doing exactly that.

It is far too easy to fake anything from headlines to webpages, photos to other people’s posts, as the endless procession of bogus Martin Lewis ‘recommendations’ demonstrates.

There is virtually no moderation on some of these platforms, with social media algorithms only intent on maximising engagement levels – not regulating the quality of content users are engaging with.

Instead, look to legitimate news platforms like BBC News, the Guardian or the Daily Telegraph. You can also trust international news syndicates like Reuters or AP.

These legacy media platforms may be politically biased, but they rarely make mistakes in their reporting, let alone fabricate entire stories.

Local media outlets like your local paper may be worthwhile subscribing to. They’ll often fail to cover controversial issues, but published reporting should be genuine and fact checked.

If you’ve never heard of a particular website, Substack, Patreon or analyst, approach their output with caution.

Report but don’t forward

If you discover disinformation masquerading as legitimate content, report it to the website it’s hosted on.

Don’t forward it onto people unless you’re confident they will treat it with appropriate disdain, rather than actually believing it, and never respond to it yourself.

Ultimately, most fake news quickly dies away if it’s not shared and commented on, so the best way to protect yourself against fake news in future is to ignore it here and now.