Use the image below to review how to determine the credibility of information.
Additional resources are available further down this page, including website evaluation guidance.
Fake News and Its Intents:
The Ethical Journalism Network defines Fake News as: “Fake news is information deliberately fabricated and published with the intention to deceive and mislead others into believing falsehoods or doubting verifiable facts.”
Much of the discourse on ‘fake news’ conflates three notions: mis-information, disinformation and mal-information. Propaganda is also important to be aware of. Now, more than ever is it important to distinguish messages that are true from those that are false, and messages that are created, produced or distributed by “agents” who intend to do harm from those that are not:
Misinformation: Information that is false, but not created with the intention of causing harm
(e.g. someone posting an article containing now out of date information but not realizing it).
Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country
(e.g. a competitor purposely posting false statistics about your organization with an intent to discredit you)
Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, organization or country
(e.g. someone using a picture of a dead child refugee (with no context) in an effort to ignite hatred of a particular ethnic group they are against.)
Propaganda: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, that is used to promote or publicize a particular cause or point of view in in order to encourage or instill a certain attitude or response.
Source
The Ethical Journalism Network defines Fake News as: “Fake news is information deliberately fabricated and published with the intention to deceive and mislead others into believing falsehoods or doubting verifiable facts.”
Much of the discourse on ‘fake news’ conflates three notions: mis-information, disinformation and mal-information. Propaganda is also important to be aware of. Now, more than ever is it important to distinguish messages that are true from those that are false, and messages that are created, produced or distributed by “agents” who intend to do harm from those that are not:
Misinformation: Information that is false, but not created with the intention of causing harm
(e.g. someone posting an article containing now out of date information but not realizing it).
Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country
(e.g. a competitor purposely posting false statistics about your organization with an intent to discredit you)
Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, organization or country
(e.g. someone using a picture of a dead child refugee (with no context) in an effort to ignite hatred of a particular ethnic group they are against.)
Propaganda: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, that is used to promote or publicize a particular cause or point of view in in order to encourage or instill a certain attitude or response.
Source
These resources may help you determine the credibility of your information. Warning: None is foolproof.
How to COMBAT Fake News:
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Click to learn how to find credible websites and sources.
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