We live in a time where information is readily and widely available, spread faster than ever befoe and through an increasing amount of channels. This applies to information you use for your work, study and private life.
However, not all information you come across while scrolling through news and social media is equally reliable. You may also encounter fake news, especially on social media. Without the correct information you cannot form an adequate and well-founded opinion. The ability to critically assess information has therefore become increasingly important. In this training you will learn how to do that.
You will learn:
To recognize fake news and distinguish between different types
What the negative effects and dangers of fake news are
This is how it works:
The training consists of 6 modules. Each module contains an explenation and sometimes an additional video. You will also find links to background information. After module 4 and 6 you will be able to take a short quiz to check whether you have understood the information thus far. Click on the 'Next' button at the bottom right of this screen to start.
1. Fake news is not new
Fake is not new
The distortion of truth and the spreading of lies, propaganda and fabricted stories has been an age-old problem.
For example, in the first century A.D., the great Roman orator Dio of Prusa claimed that Troy was not conquered by the Greeks at all, as described in detail in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. the famous Horse of Troy, according to him, was not a ruse to conquer the city, but simply a gift from the Greeks, intended as reparation for all the damage done.
Around 1900, the phenomenon of 'Yellow journalism' emerged in America, in which thorough journalistic research was forced to take a back seat in order to boost the newspaper sales through the use of sensational headlines and exaggerated stories about crime and scandals.
The term 'fake news' was coined in 2014 by Canadian journalist Craig Silverman. Silverman began by collecting media mistakes and posting them in a blog called ‘regret the error’. In his search for misinformation, however, he also encountered much more serious cases in addition to these innocent, unintentional errors. Like a company that creates fake profiles on social media in exchange for payment in order to spread negative information about competitors.
2. What is fake news?
Fake news is a collective term for various types of incorrect information. That is why we use the term in this training. However, not all fake news is the same.
In the video of the NOS below, the concept of fake news is further explained.
NB: This video (and some others used in this training) is in Dutch. Turn on automatically translated subtitles by:
1. Clicking on 'Watch on Youtube'
2. Opening the gear icon at the bottom of the video to the right of the Closed Caption icon.
3. Selecting Subtitles/CC in the small pop-up window.
4. Depending on your settings, you might have to click 'Dutch (auto-generated)' first, then select subtitles/CC again
5. Chosing Auto-Translate and chosing your preferred language.
Disinformation is misleading or incorrect information that is created and deliberately distributed, with, for example, the aim of making money, influencing public opinion, or to discredite someone and tarnish their reputation.
Malinformation is correct but illegally obtained and/or privacy-sensitive information that is misused to vilify or intimidate a particular person or a certain group. By publishing, for example, privacy-sensitive information, suggestive information that is intended to polarize, or as a call to hatred and violence.
Misinformation is incorrect information that is shared without malicious intent. The information is often distributed by mistake, or because the distributor does not realize that the information is not correct.
Hoaxes are fake posts or warnings intended to dupe or trick others. These are often spectacular posts or warnings for computer viruses, and the post asks to forward it to as many people as possible. Whether something is a hoax or not can easily found on the internet, for example with a hoax-guide.
Satire, a humorous way to criticise, is not actually fake news, but a comical form of social criticism, with the aim of entertaining and making you think. Satire often pokes fun at current affairs. It can sometimes be perceived as provocative or hurtful. Satire includes, for example, the website The Onion, cabaret and cartoons.
2.2 Image manipulation and deepfakes
Information is shared everywhere through the use of videos, photos and animations. Audiovisual images are powerful resources, because they often linger longer than text. This is known as the ‘Picture Superiority Effect’. As a result, audiovisual images may - often unconsciously - influence your sentiments, your way of thinking, and your view of the world.
Editing audiovisual material by removing and/or adding certain images and/or sounds is called image manipulation. Image manipulation lends itself extremely well to spreading fake news.
The creator of an image can use different tactics to achieve certain effects:
With manipulation an image can be cropped, parts of it can be omitted or particular elements can be added.
With stagingthe images are staged.
With framingan image is used to influence your opinion about a person, subject or a certain event by placing the image in a negative or positive context.
Statistical information can also be easily manipulated. A simple way of doing that is by not letting the vertical axis of a table start at 0, as you will then see the same data but with a much more extreme increase. There are many other ways to manipulate statistics.
Audiovisual materials such as photos and videos, can be edited with increasing ease through the use of advanced digital techniques. Such digital image manipulation is widely used in art and entertainment. Unfortunately, digital image manipulation is also misused to deceive. The misuse of deepfake technology in particular is a growing concern.
Deepfake is the collective name for fake videos that appear lifelike but which are made with the aid of special software. The name deepfake is a combination of the words deep learning and fake. Deep learning is a form of artificial intelligence. It ensures that computers learn new things based on large amounts of data, such as numbers, texts, sounds or images.
Deepfake is therefore a form of synthetic media: media that has been created or edited using artificial intelligence. Deepfake-software makes it possible to make someone say or do things they never actually said or did. This type of software is becoming easier to obtain, download and use. Abuse of deepfake software is illegal, but difficult to enforce in practice.
Find out more!
University of the Netherlands (Universiteit van Nederland) explains the consequences of deepfakes and how to recognize them:
2.3 AI language models
What is it?
In November 2022 ChatGPT was introduced: a chatbot that can create texts through the use of artificial intelligence. GPT stands for 'Generative Pre-Training Transformer'. ChatGPT is a 'Large Language Model' (LLM), a technological model that can process large data sets, summarize and ultimately generate new content. LLMs focus on language, its processing and its (re)production. They do this by calculating the probability of one word following another.
What are the risks?
LLMs are easy to use and the texts they produce initially seem both coherent and correct. But it is best to think of these texts as a kind of average of all the texts the model has been fed/trained with and there could be errors. It is, for example, hard to see where an LLM gets the information from. This means you cannot check the original source and do not know whether the information is reliable.
In summary:
Answers are based on linguistic probability, not content knowledge
Correctness of the information provided is unclear
No (correct) source citation
With an LLM anyone can easily and quickly have convincing looking texts generated. The rise of ChatGPT and other LLMs therefore makes it even more important to properly check where information comes from and what sources have been used.
You now know the different kinds of fake news. There are also several reasons for spreading fake news:
The commercial gain: On social media more clicks means more income. So-called clickbait tries to tempt people to click on sensational headlines. Whether the content of the article is correct is of little to no importance, the aim is to earn money.
To cause harm: People, organizations and countries can be discredited by spreading disinformation. By using, for example, manipulated images to rouse suspiscion about certain countries, politicians or groups of people.
To criticize: The aim is to make people think. You see this in satire, where criticism is delivered in a humorous way.
Find out more!
What is the difference between real news and fake news and why is it spread? 'Online Masters' explains it in this video:
4. Why is fake news a problem?
There are several factors that make fake news a problem:
If fake news is nothing new, why is it such a problem these days? The answer is simple: thanks to the rise of the internet and social media, almost everyone can now post and share texts and images.
Sharing a video of your pet doing something funny is of course completely innocent. Sharing your opinion about the latest film cannot hurt either. Unfortunately, that is not the only way in which social media is used. Someone with harmful intentions can use it to spread fake news and disinformation and then social media are suddenly a lot less innocent than they may seem at first.
Find out more!
Arjen Lubach shows concrete examples of fake news and disinformation that was spread en masse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4.2 Rapid circulation
A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that messages on Twitter that were judged to be fake by fact-checkers were retweeted faster than messages which were judged to be factually correct. The researchers suspect that people are more inclined to share messages which are surprising or unusual.
This WHO animation shows how fake news is spread and how to counter it:
4.3 Growing distrust
The biggest danger of fake news is that you may lose your trust in experts, the government and traditional news media. As a result, you no longer know who or what to believe. And if you may no longer know what is and what is not true, it becomes very difficult to form a well-founded opinion and you may become more susceptible to disinformation.
With image manipulation and deepfakes there is also the possibility that you are convinced of something that never happened or something that someone never said, which can lead you to base your opinion on incorrect information.
People are more likely to believe something if it fits into their view of the world, and creators of fake news take advantage of this by trying to influence public opinion, incite hatred, or spread propaganda. This can have an effect on the way in which certain groups of people are viewed, which in turn can lead to the hardening and polarization of society.
Find out more!
Why is it so hard to distinguish real news from fake news? This video from Isdatechtzo.nl explains that:
What have we in the Netherlands noticed about the spread of fake news? What is the government doing about it and how can you arm yourself against it? You can see that in this video from WNL.
Quiz 1
Toets: What is fake news and why is it a problem?
0%
Answer these 5 questions to check whether you have understood this part. Did you make any mistakes? After you answered the questions you can see the correct answers under 'Overzicht'. Read the relevant module once more and take the test again.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Why does it sound believable?
Fake news makes clever use of the human characteristic of prefering to believe information that confirms our own opinion. This means that if you are confronted with a post that fits right up your proverbial alley, you are more inclined to believe it. This is called 'confirmation bias'. As a result you can quickly end up in a so-called 'filter bubble'.
In this section you can read more about confirmation bias and filter bubbles. You will read how this affects your assessment of information and the information you are offered.
5.2 Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias refers to your unconscious tendency to seek, collect, interpret and remember evidence that confirms your existing beliefs.
By only remembering details that support your beliefs, you miss important information. You are therefore less likely to believe examples that claim the opposite. As a result, you are quick to attach meaning to specific information, regardless of whether it is correct or not. Because you tend to believe what you want to believe it is difficult to make objective evaluations. Which can have a negative effect on the decisions you make.
A confirmation bias consists of two factors:
You want confirmation that you are right.
You do not want to find out that you are wrong.
Confirmation bias causes you to seek information that confirms you in:
Your existing beliefs based on your experiences;
The correctness of your judgments or decisions;
Your philosophy of life;
Your professional ideals.
As a result, your confirmation bias affects various things, such as:
How you view political campaigns;
How you conduct research;
How you interpret stereotypes;
How you search for information.
5.3 Filter bubble
Based on how you search and the posts on social media that you liked or shared, an internet profile of you is created through the use of algorithms. With the help of these algorithms, websites and apps know who you are, what you have clicked on before, as well as what your preferences and interests are.
Based on your profile the search results for new searches and posts on social media are adjusted. As a result, you keep seeing similar information and posts; you will not see what does not match your profile according to the algorithms. This creates an information bubble around you, also known as a filter bubble. And because you no longer see information that contradicts your opinions or points of view, you become isolated in your own cultural and ideological bubble.
The danger of this filter bubble is that you base your opinion on the basis of one-sided information. This makes you less critical and easier to influence. Your filter bubble therefore deprives you of the opportunity to develop a critical attitude yourself and to form your opinion on the basis of a variety of information.
Now you know what fake news is, why it is spread, what the dangers are and what role your own views play. But how doyou recognize fake news? By sticking to the followingfollowing three steps you will be able to recognize fake news and thus are less likely to be fooled. This section discusses these three steps:
Similar steps are briefly explained in the video below from University Libraries:
Step 1. Who, where & why
Was your attention drawn by a eye-cathcing headline? Don't immediately assume it is true! Always ask yourself who created the post, where it came from and why it was shared. A headline never tells the whole story. By asking yourself the questions below you can find out whether you are dealing with fact or fiction.
On the 10th of July 2023 an article titled 'Miss USA Boycotts Miss Universe Pageant: "I'm Not Competing Against a Man"' was shared on social media. Many people on social media appeared to believe the posts. A fact check by Reuters has revealed that the shared article is satirical in origin. In the examples that follow we show you how you could check this yourself.
Who & where
Always ask yourself who created and/or shared the post and where it came from. Find information about the creator(s)/sharer(s) of the post using a search engine. What is known about them? Are they impartial and reliable? Are they an expert on the subject?
People who spread fake news often do so with fake accounts. An account that has been active for a short period and has few or no followers could be a fake account.
Many fake posts shared on social media involve false framing; posts are summarized in such a way that their implications and conclusions no longer correspond to those of the original post. Therefore always check the original source.
People who create fake news try to make their posts look like real news as much as possible. Check the source of a message by searching the website for information under "about us", "disclaimer", or "contact". There you will often find information about the organization, company or creators of the website and the reason why the website was created.
With the help of a search engine you can find out what is known about the source and what others write about it. Most (major) publications and organizations also have a Wikipedia page.
Always ask yourself whether the source is what you expected, if there is anything that constitutes the source as biased and/or unreliable, and if the source has the expertise and/or resources to conduct (primary) research.
If you can hardly find reliable information about the creator/sharer and the source of the post, it is wise to take it with a grain of salt.
Why
Ask yourself why something was posted, especially when you come across something on social media.
A reliable report gives you information by describing events without judging them, so that you can form your own opinion. Fake news often plays on emotions. The person who created or shared the post may have commercial, personal and/or political interests in doing so. The same also applies to the source from which the post originates.
Therefore pay close attention to who created or shared the post and which source it came from, because often you can quickly uncover the intention of a post. For example, is there a commercial interest? Or is the post colored by personal and/or political convictions? If so, it is quite possible that the post is intended to influence you.
Example
Miss USA Boycotts Miss Universe Pageant: "I'm Not Competing Against a Man"
Investigate the source
The author: This is the headline of an article shared on social media without a disclaimer by diffrent users. No author is cited in the posts, but they do include a link to an article on the website Billbordi.com, which simply gives the name billbordi1 as its author. If you Google that name it yields no useful results.
The source: If you search the website Billbordi.com you will find no "about us", "disclaimer", or "contact" page. A quick Google search informs you that it appears to be an entertainment website.
What do others write about the source: If you Google the reliability of Billbordi.com you will not find anything useful.
Figure out the purpose of the post
The source: The website Billbordi.com appears to be nothing more and nothing less than an entertainment website that shares entertainment news. Conclusion: Billbordi.com's motive appears to be sharing worldwide entertainment news.
The article: The content of the article consists of a very brief bio of Natasha Berkelston, Miss USA 2022. The article then states that Natasha will not be competing for the international title of Miss Universe. This statement is followed by a quote from Natasha, in which she says that she "won't compete against a man", and that she "won't be in the same locker room", as those "areas are sacred and no place for a man". The article then claims that Rikki Valerie, the winner from the Netherlands, won by guilting the jury with her essay on transrights. The jury supposedly buckled for fear of retribution from the LGBTQ community. The articles continues by saying that Natasha will "return to her duties as Miss USA", and seems to claim she will miss out on making a deal with Playboy for standing up for her morals by choosing not to compete against a trans-woman. Next, the article quotes Rikki's spokesperson, who does not seem to understand why anyone is upset, as Rikki transitioned young, before her modelling career, and that she chose to come out. The article ends by claiming that the previous statement made a bunch of conservative men confess that, despite her Summer Glau-esque smile, she [Rikki] is "pretty hot for a dude". The same text, underneath the same headline, can be found in an article on the website of the Dunning-Kruger Times. Here, the autor's name is given as Flagg Eagleton. If you Google the name of the author you will find that it is the alias of Christopher Blair, who runs and owns the satirical website The Dunning-Kruger Times. On the About us page on the Dunning-Kruger Times website it is clearly stated that they are a satirical website. Conclusion: Billbordi.com seems to have copied the satirical article from the Dunning-Kruger Times and presented it as entertainment news.
Conclusion: The source is not well-known and the article has an unknown and/or satirical author. The people quoted in the article supposedly made some rather specific statements. But what about the burden of proof? We will investigate that in the next step.
Step 2. Evidence
It is quite possible that the questions who, where and why do not provide a definitive answer to the question whether the post is based on fact or fiction. Then what do you do? You look for evidence!
What is the evidence?
Read the post carefully and check whether the claims are supported by evidence:
Check the source:
If something really is news, there are often several sources available that share it independently. You can check this by using a search engine to look for the topic of the post. You will often find better sources or even the original source.
Reliable news reports usually state where the information comes from. Therefore always check the information on which the message is based by checking for source references.
NB! Information from other sources could also have been taken out of context and/or may be unreliable. So check these sources for their reliability as well! Sometimes you may even find a complete fact check of the post, which checks whether the claims in a post are based on facts.
The date on which a post was published is also important, because fake news posts often contain outdated information.
Images, data and quotes:
Reliable news items usually clearly state where images, data and quotes come from. Fake news often uses images, data or quotes that come from somewhere else and have nothing to do with the post itself.
There are several ways to trace the origin of images. In Chrome, for example, you can right-click to select "Image search in Google" or enter the URL/photo in Google under "Search by image" to find out the origin of a picture.
Another useful search engine for this is tineye.com. This allows you to sort search results so that the oldest result appears first. You can then compare a found picture with your picture with 'Compare match'. Because different search engines yield different results, you can also install the InVid ad-on in your browser. This gives you the option to search for an image with six search engines at the same time.
If the post has no publication date, if the claims in the post are not supported anywhere else, or if the images used are taken out of context, then you are probably dealing with fake news.
Example
Miss USA Boycotts Miss Universe Pageant: "I'm Not Competing Against a Man"
Claim: Miss USA is boycotting the Miss Universe Pageant because she refuses to compete against a trans-woman.
Cited source: Billbordi.com / The Dunning-Kruger Times.
Check the source
Whether or not Billbordi.com copied the article from the Dunning-Kruger Times and presented it as the truth, no source is given save for the supposedly direct quote of Natasha Berkelston, Miss USA.
Search for other sources
When you Google "Natasha Berkelston" AND "Miss USA", you will find that this name does not match the contestant crowned as Miss USA in 2022, which was Morgan Romano. In a statement sent to Reuters in response to the article on Billbordi.com and social media Morgan said: "I support all of the national contestants and any woman brave and confident enough to put herself out there on the global stage!". To this she adds: "I would never boycott or skip a competition for a reason like this".
Conclusion: The article is a piece of satire which Billbordi.com appears to present as true entertainment news, probably without having checked the facts.
Checking an image: Is the woman in the inserted picture Natasha Berkelston, alleged Miss USA 2022?
Is this really a picture of Natasha Berkelston, alleged Miss USA 2022? Well, you can check that by finding out where else this picture has appeared on the internet! Right-click on the inserted picture of the woman on the left and select 'Search image with Google'. You will find that the woman in the picture is immediately identified as Anna Linnikova, a model and Miss Russia 2022.
Conclusion: The picture used in the Billbordi.com / Dunning-Kruger Times article is not of Miss USA 2022.
Find out more! In the video below from CTRL-F you can see more examples of how to factcheck pictures (and videos):
Step 3. Your confirmation bias and filter bubble
If you come across information that confirms your own opinion you will probably assume it is true without much hesitation, right? Note that this makes you less able to judge information objectively and makes you an easy target to be influenced.
Your identity and prejudices: Who are you and what are your opinions?
Consider your own ideas, opinions, preferences and prejudices.
Fake news stories often try to play with your emotions. That is why it is important to be aware of your (confirmation) biases if you want to judge whether a post is correct or not.
Does the post confirm your beliefs and ideals? Then it is possible that the information both fits within your confirmation bias and your filter bubble. They both influence the way you search for and find information. So always ask yourself if there was something about the headline which caught your attention, how you reacted to the post, and why you reacted to it that way. Also ask yourself if the post confirms or challenges your assumptions.
Break through your filter bubble
Consciously look for sources which represent other viewpoints regarding the topic at hand to broaden your view, and compare this with your own point of view. Can you explain why you disagree with something? Are you sure that the information supporting your own point of view is reliable?
Remain critical and do not jump to conclusions!
Find out more!
How do you go beyond your own confirmation bias? Causes explains it in this video:
Quiz 2
Toets: Can you recognize fake news?
0%
Answer these 5 questions to check whether you understood this part. Did you make any mistakes? After you have answered the questions you can see the correct answers under 'Overzicht'. Reread the relevant parts and take the test again.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Fortunately, you do not have to find out everything yourself if you want to find out whether a post is reliable. There are many fact-checking websites that check whether current reports are true, such as Nieuwscheckers.
Any doubts? See if a fact-checker has researched the subject or ask the library for advice.
8. Want to know more?
Do you want to know more about fake news and disinformation? The library has several interesting books to further delve into this subject. Do you doubt if a source is reliable? The library specialists are ready to help you.
Het arrangement Fake news and disinformation training is gemaakt met
Wikiwijs van
Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt,
maakt en deelt.
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding vrij bent om:
het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.
Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
The aim of this training is to teach how to recognize and distinguish different types of fake news and disinformation, and to be able to name the negative effects and dangers of these. This information skills training is intended for students and teachers.
Eindgebruiker
leerling/student
Moeilijkheidsgraad
gemiddeld
Studiebelasting
4 uur en 0 minuten
Gebruikte Wikiwijs Arrangementen
Team Informatievaardigheid Hogeschool Rotterdam.
(2023).
The aim of this training is to teach how to recognize and distinguish different types of fake news and disinformation, and to be able to name the negative effects and dangers of these. This information skills training is intended for students and teachers.
We live in a time where information is readily and widely available, spread faster than ever befoe and through an increasing amount of channels. This applies to information you use for your work, study and private life.
Confirmation bias
Was your attention drawn by a eye-cathcing headline? Don't immediately assume it is true! Always ask yourself 
It is quite possible that the questions who, where and why do not provide a definitive answer to the question whether the post is based on fact or fiction. Then what do you do? You look for evidence!
Is this really a picture of Natasha Berkelston, alleged Miss USA 2022? Well, you can check that by finding out where else this picture has appeared on the internet! Right-click on the inserted picture of the woman on the left and select 'Search image with Google'. You will find that the woman in the picture is immediately identified as Anna Linnikova, a model and Miss Russia 2022.
If you come across information that confirms your own opinion you will probably assume it is true without much hesitation, right? Note that this makes you less able to judge information objectively and makes you an easy target to be influenced.
