![\"\"](\"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fake-news.png\")
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As\u00a0<\/span>the world\u00a0<\/span>is m<\/span>ore connected\u00a0<\/span>through<\/span>\u00a0internet and social media, news<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>spread<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>rapidly\u00a0<\/span>across all corners of the\u00a0<\/span>globe<\/span>. Although this helps citizens to stay informed<\/span>, it has\u00a0<\/span>allowed\u00a0<\/span>for fake news to spread\u00a0<\/span>as easily<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fake news\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>information<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that has been\u00a0<\/span>deliberately distorted with the aim<\/span>\u00a0of deceiving readers.\u00a0<\/span>Such news is usually sensational and\u00a0<\/span>aims<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0strong reaction<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0from readers. Unfortunately, fak<\/span>e news\u00a0<\/span>can\u00a0<\/span>deceive\u00a0<\/span>all internet and social media users.\u00a0<\/span>It is t<\/span>herefore imperative<\/span>, especially in extraordinary times such as the ones we\u2019re living in,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0everyone\u00a0<\/span>to determine what<\/span>\u00a0true and fake news is<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If one is reading a news article and thinks that it might be fake news<\/span>, the first step<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>confirm that\u00a0<\/span>the facts and figures presented are accurate.\u00a0<\/span>This\u00a0<\/span>can\u00a0<\/span>be done<\/span>\u00a0either by comparing the article to another one from a\u00a0<\/span>reliable news outlet or by\u00a0<\/span>checking<\/span>\u00a0sources used by\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>author<\/span>\u00a0of the article<\/span>.\u00a0 If the sources used\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>unidentified,\u00a0<\/span>then the article is\u00a0<\/span>probably\u00a0<\/span>fake news.<\/span>\u00a0Checking pictures<\/span>, through a simple image search,<\/span>\u00a0is another way of\u00a0<\/span>verifying\u00a0<\/span>true or false news.\u00a0<\/span>As<\/span>\u00a0pictures<\/span>\u00a0within the article<\/span>\u00a0can be easily<\/span>\u00a0taken out of context\u00a0<\/span>or taken from an event which is not related to the one being reported.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, one needs to be careful<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>when coming across<\/span>\u00a0biased articles<\/span>\u00a0as<\/span>\u00a0this is\u00a0<\/span>common<\/span>\u00a0trait of<\/span>\u00a0fake news<\/span>\u00a0due to the fact that\u00a0<\/span>established media outlets\u00a0<\/span>seek\u00a0<\/span>to avoid bias. If\u00a0<\/span>one feels that the article is biased,\u00a0<\/span>they should\u00a0<\/span>look at the URL and\u00a0<\/span>if it looks odd then one should check the \u2018about\u2019 section to see who is behind\u00a0<\/span>or funding\u00a0<\/span>the news portal. One could also check the<\/span>\u00a0author behind the article, however, if the name is made up<\/span>\u00a0or the article is anonymous<\/span>, then most probably the\u00a0<\/span>news is fake.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In order to counter the spread of disinformation,\u00a0<\/span>u<\/span>sers are urged to follow \u2018Myth Busters\u2019 such as\u00a0<\/span>EUvsDisinfo<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that report<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0on fake stories<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As\u00a0the world\u00a0is more connected\u00a0through\u00a0internet and social media, news\u00a0spreads\u00a0rapidly\u00a0across all corners of the\u00a0globe. Although this helps citizens to stay informed, it has\u00a0allowed\u00a0for fake news to spread\u00a0as easily.\u00a0 Fake news\u00a0is\u00a0information\u00a0that has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3543,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[162],"issuem_issue_categories":[14],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3550"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3550"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3552,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3550\/revisions\/3552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=3550"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=3550"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=3550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}