Fake News Online Types of Fake News Clickbait Unreliable sources - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Fake News Online

Types of Fake News

• Clickbait
• Unreliable sources
• Misleading Information
• Satire/ Parody
• Biased News

Clickbait

• Headline trying to attract attention and make readers click to find out more
• Creates a “cliffhanger” that makes you want to click to find out more.
• Widespread due to its ability to generate clicks/ ad revenue
• Some people only read headlines

Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore

https://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297690717/why-doesnt-america-read-anymore

Social Media

• Source-agnostic
• People are more likely to accept news endorsed by friends
• Popularity can be manipulated online by bots

Fake News Websites

• Easy to create

○ Domain ○ Website

• Steal and modify content
• Advertisements

○ Easy to add using advertisement companies online

• Spread over social media

○ Use fake accounts and bots to promote stories and get clicks

How to avoid fake new online

• Check source
• Don’t share fake articles online

Ethics Analysis

• Journalist wants to write an article but his source is not reliable.
• What can he do?

○ Wait for a more reliable source. ■ Possibility of missing out on a scoop. ■ Information could still be correct ○ Use the information he has to write the story. ■ Possibility of publishing incorrect information ■ Misleading readers

Kantian Ethics Analysis

By writing a fake news article you are using people’s gullibility or biases to gain views on your

• site. By Kantian’s second formulation using people as a means to an end is unethical.

Thus this is unethical according to Kant

Act Utilitarian Analysis

Writing possibly false information: +1 publishes article before anyone else

• 2 misleads people if information turns out to

be false

• 1 loses credibility

Total: -2 Waiting for a reliable source:

• 1 someone else publishes their article first

+0 doesn’t mislead anyone +2 gains credibility by publishing factual information Total: +1

Questions