The Challenge of Fake News Essay Sample

Fake news spread like lightning on the internet. Everyone has access to, and the opportunity to write what they desire on the internet. Social media is used as a primary source of information, especially amongst younger generations. Fake news can be misleading and cause conflict, which is why its challenges are being debated. Fake news is unavoidable, and a recent worldwide challenge. English-speaking countries are a part of dealing with this issue, not only because of internet trolls and bots but also by famous politicians. What causes the spread of fake news in English-speaking countries today?

The origin of fake news can be divided into two different types. According to BBC “Fake news could start as disinformation (things deliberately made up for a specific purpose) or end up being misinformation (false content shared accidentally by people who don’t know that the information is inaccurate).” (BBC news, u.d.). It can be hard to spot the difference between fake and accurate news. The people that tend to believe the fake ones are people with similar opinions and beliefs as the misleading news. The reason why fake news spreads can be because people share them with their relatives or on their social media platforms. This can cause conflict due to provocation. We are often biased to articles, and social media posts that state opinions we agree with. Often, people forget to think critically when reading on the internet.

Social media holds a lot of power when it comes to spreading news. Thus, it’s easy access for anyone to share what they desire. News sites and platforms seem to be more outdated, and it’s easier for the population to discuss and argue on social media platforms. Social media collects our previous data and recommends similar posts that agree with our beliefs. Bots and internet trolls are the main source of fake news on the internet. However, not only they are the ones spreading fake news. Famous politicians, and other important people with many followers, can also be an issue because they contribute to spreading biased false information. Avoiding misleading information on social media seems impossible, but as individuals, we can become better at critical thinking when reading information online.

Fake news tends to be common in politics. For instance, it has affected the previous US election in 2020 negatively for both sides. Former President Donald Trump is known for spreading biased news to his Twitter account. As a consequence, these seem to be misleading to his followers. Considering most of his followers want him to succeed, and agree with his democratic options, they are more likely to believe his misleading information than people with liberal political views. During the vote-counting in the 2020 election, Donald Trump tweeted that some states had overvoted several times. This made his democratic supporters mad, and they also started wanting to recount the votes, which was Trumps’ purpose with his Tweets. Trump provoked his followers, to believe his thoughts on the election. “In Detroit, there are FAR MORE VOTES THAN PEOPLE. Nothing can be done to cure that giant scam. I win Michigan!” (Trump, D.J. 2020) Trump posts bold statements that can be misleading, and not fact-based on his social media accounts. This can result in democratic groups contributing to spreading Trump’s personal beliefs, which emphasized his biased views during the election.

Social media is claimed to spread false and misleading news amongst English-speaking countries. This is challenging because it can affect people’s personal views and beliefs. Today, people forget to think critically about what they see and read on the internet. We don’t fact-check our sources; most people just assume their news is legitimate. On social media, everyone has access to post information. As a result, news on social media tends to be biased and inaccurate. In conclusion, we should be more sceptical when reading things on the internet, even when the publisher is someone well known.