For representational purposes. (File Photo)
- False or misleading information appears as real news
- Tends to mislead people
- Fake news can appear authentic at first and attempt to attract attention, shock, or shape opinion
- Fake news can be created by individuals or groups acting individually or on serving interests of third parties
- Fake news motivated by personal, political, or economic agendas
- It is also the propaganda dressed up as believable information
- Can spread very fast through social media and impact judgments of people
- Difficult to detect early
Fake headlines: Most common. Headlines draw attention to fictitious facts. They are called clickbait headlines phrases designed to attract users’ attention and lure them to a web page they are not interested in or is fake
Targeted misinformation: Fictitious info shared for self-serving interest or directed at groups susceptible to such type of information. The content could be polarising if shared unthinkingly
Viral posts: Bombarding social media sites with a large number of fake articles, not giving enough time for users to check their veracity. Such news when shared or liked, creates its own momentum
Satire: Method used to promote fake or absurd events
Disinformation with ulterior motive or malicious intent
India on top: India has been on top among nations facing spread of fake news
FAKE NEWS: DECEPTION LADDER
Some fake news are not harmful, some are very incendiary.
- Satire can be used to mislead, but causes no harm though has potential to fool user
- Misleading content can be used to frame an individual or issue
- Imposter content can be generated to impersonate somebody or something
- Fabricated content is completely false content intended to deceive and harm users
- False connections are made where text, visuals and headlines have no connection with one another and yet deceive user
- False context is used to misinterpret genuine news or information; ultimately the entire information becomes false and dangerous if relied upon
- Manipulated content can be extremely provocative and polarise people and views by twisting genuine information