What are fake news?

Fake news is information published in the media or social media about a real or fictitious event that is a misleading report.

Categories of fake news:

• destabilizing
• emotional
• provocative
• economically motivated
• discrediting
• unintentional

Fakes can include knowingly false information that is partially accurate or intentionally distorted. The disseminators of such messages use manipulative pitches, fake websites and accounts.

Negative consequences of fakes:

• destabilization of the socio-political situation
• formation of a negative image of a person or organization
• misinformation of users

The main platforms for spreading fakes are social networks, media, messengers and chat rooms.

Sources of intentional disinformation include: destructive and banned organizations, activist and political organizations, foreign sources, bot farms and creo farms.

Unintentional misinformation includes the media and ordinary users. In the first case, it is usually a typical mistake of young specialists, when the desire to publish a “sensation” damages data verification. In the second case, users disseminate information for various reasons, including deception or harm, ignorance or personal conviction in the rightness of an issue.

Fakes are most often spread on three topics: political sphere and state security, healthcare, and socially significant incidents.

Historically, fakes are most often spread on three topics: political sphere and state security, health care, and socially significant incidents.