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Fake News: Examples

Fake News: the history, hysteria, and hype – and how to see through the subterfuge.

Sick & Tired of Snow

  • A Fargo, North Dakota, man was arrested for clearing snow with a flamethrower.
  • Fake Stuff category: Humor (satire/ parody/ jokes)
  • It’s no secret that North Dakota can get a lot of snow in winter, so something like this article can easily catch someone’s interest because we all eventually get sick of snow and likely consider taking a flamethrower to our snowbanks.
  • This story has resurfaced on social media each winter since it was first published in 2013.
  • If you go to the "About" page on the original website, you'll see it's a satire website.

Mr. Rogers Rumor Neighborhood

  • Fred Rogers served as a sniper during the Vietnam War and had a large number of confirmed kills.
  • Fred Rogers wore his iconic sweaters to conceal the extensive tattoos on his arms that were acquired while serving in the military. 
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • Urban legend

  • Fred Rogers never served in the military.

  • Stories fact-checked on Snopes

Theodore Roosevelt Riding a Moose

Theodore Roosevelt riding a moose

  • Image of Theodore Roosevelt riding a moose.
  • Fake Stuff category: Manipulated
  • Theodore Roosevelt has an impressive resume: outdoorsman and big game hunter, author, historian, politician, military commander, cowboy and rancher, conservationist, etc. Therefore, it is plausible that a man like this would attempt to ride a moose.
  • However, this image has been proven by multiple credible sources to be fake (see the list below).
  • This image was manipulated using very early "Photoshop" techniques (such as the clever photography and darkroom tricks that were used for tall-tale postcards).

The Onion

  • Fake Stuff category: Humor (satire/ parody/ jokes)
  • The Onion is a satire website. Everything on its website is intentionally fake in the name of humor.
  • Satire news, like The Onion, seeks to entertain and be humorous rather than mislead, but people can misinterpret the content as real.

Two Sides to One Audiobook

  • In September 2017, Hillary Clinton released her memoir What Happened.
  • A month before in August 2017, a clip of the audiobook was released.
  • Hillary is also the narrator.
  • MSNBC and Fox News both picked up the story.
  • Fake Stuff category: Slanted/ Biased
  • Note: The Fake Stuff category was determined by how the story was interpreted by two different television networks. The category was not determined by the book itself.
  • When the audiobook clip was released, the media picked it up. On MSNBC (left-biased), a panel took the clip and spun it in an anti-Trump way. On Fox News (right-biased), a panel took the clip and spun it in an anti-Hillary way.
  • So the story (Hillary's audiobook clip being released) was true, but it was reported in a biased method.
  • You don't have to avoid networks/ sources like Fox News and MSNBC completely, but just be aware that biases are likely to exist.

Facebook Hoaxes

  • It's official: Facebook will start charging user fees.
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • Hoax
  • This rumor/ hoax has been around since at least 2009, and it continues to make the rounds.
  • There is no truth to these posts. Facebook is committed to keeping its platform free.

  • Mark Zuckerbert, the CEO of Facebook, invented the word BFF. To make sure your account is safe on Facebook, type BFF in a comment. If it appears green, your account is protected. If it does not appear green, you must change your password. Try it.
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • Hoax
  • First of all, Mark Zuckerberg did not invent the word BFF. It has been around before Facebook even existed.
  • The word BFF turns green because of an animation feature on Facebook. Other keywords like "congratulations" also had animations. The animations have absolutely nothing to do with account security.
  • This "BFF" image began circulating around the time of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytical data scandal in 2018. At the time, Facebook account security was on everyone's mind.
  • The BFF image shared earlier was posted on someone's personal LuLaRoe Facebook page. Suspicious? Yep. When the screenshot was taken, the image had 2,500 shares, 2,400 reactions, and 70,000 comments. This person's LuLaRoe page likely saw an uptick in popularity, which might be exactly what he/she was going for in the first place.

Share to Get Money from Bill Gates

  • Share a certain post of Bill Gates on Facebook and he will send you money.
  • "Hey Facebook, As some of you may know, I'm Bill Gates. If you click that share link, I will give you $5,000. I always deliver, I mean, I brought you Windows XP, right?"
  • Fake Stuff category: Manipulated
  • Hoax
  • This image was altered.
  • This image, or images like it, have repeatedly circulated on Facebook. The image is often accompanied with text saying something like "This is true. It was on the news."
  • Nothing about this is true: Bill Gates will not send you money and this story was not truly on the news. Sorry to crush any dreams of free money.

Pope Francis Endorses Trump

  • In 2016, a story circulated that Pope Francis made an unprecedented and shocking endorsement of Donald Trump for president.
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • This story is completely false.
  • The original story can be traced back to a satire website, but it took off from there and became viral.
  • There were also other versions of this fake story claiming Pope Francis instead endorsed Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for president.

Protesters Block Hurricane Rescue Efforts

  • In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit and devastated areas of Texas and Louisiana.
  • Around this time, articles began circulating on social media saying Black Lives Matter protesters blocked rescue efforts.
  • The title of one such article reads: "'Black Lives Matter' Thugs Block Texas Rescue Efforts to Protest Trump... IMMEDIATELY REGRET IT." This article was shared by Freedom Daily and others. Their post included the article and the text "CHARGE THEM WITH FELONIES! Do you agree??"
  • Fake Stuff category: Misleading
  • The image of a line of protesters blocking a road is read. However, it is actually from a 2015 protest in Boston. The image has nothing to do with Texas or Hurricane Harvey.
  • The groups that posted and shared the articles took the image out of context to intentionally mislead.
  • Remember, check the source. In this case, the source is questionable.
  • Remember, ALL CAPS is a red flag. In this case, part of the article's title is capitalized.

Obama Seeks Third Term

  • President Obama shocked the country when he announced he would be running for a third term.
  • Fake Stuff category: Misleading
  • This story is derived from an interview with President Obama. In the interview., President Obama said that he was confident he could have been elected again (if it was legal to do so).
  • A president running for a third term is unconstitutional (because of the Twenty-second Amendment).
  • There are different variations of this story. Some say that a legal expert confirmed that a loophole could allow Barack Obama to run for a third term as President of the United States. Others say that Obama is ignoring the Constitution (and the 22nd Amendment) and running for a third term.
  • Story fact-checked on   Snopes

COVID-19

  • An article from January 2020, claiming to be from a local news station in North Dakota (Valley News Live), circulated on Facebook.
  • The article claimed that a coronavirus case has been confirmed in Fargo.
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive and Humor (satire/ parody/ jokes)
  • Unfortunately, there has been a lot of disinformation about the coronavirus making the rounds.
  • This is not an article from Valley News Live. If you look closely, you'll see it is actually from "nsfnews.com." If you go to this website, there is an About section at the bottom that reads: "This website is an entertainment website, jokes are created by users. These are humorous jokes, fantasy, fictional, that should not be seriously taken or as a source of information."
  • Also, the first case of coronavirus in North Dakota was not confirmed until March 2020.

Why Doesn't America Read Anymore?

  • On April 1, 2014, NPR posted an article to its Facebook page titled "Why Doesn't America Read Anymore?"
  • Fake Stuff category: Humor (satire/ parody/ jokes)
  • NPR is normally a very reliable source of information.
  • However, on April 1, 2014 (April Fools' Day), NPR posted an article to its Facebook page titled "Why Doesn't America Read Anymore?"
  • If you clicked on the article and read it, you would see that the article wasn’t real. It was only a test to see if people would actually read the article.
  • If you look at the comments, you’ll see that hundreds of people commented their opinions without reading the article.
  • This is why it is so important to read more than just the title of an article.

Chinese Lesbian Billionaires Marry

  • In 2017, a tweet about two Chinese lesbian billionaires who married and became the world's richest couple went viral on Twitter.
  • The original tweet accompanying the above image read: "[BREAKING] Lesbian Chinese Billionaires, Meng Mei Qi and Wu Xuan Yi, marry. Making them the richest couple alive."
  • Fake Stuff category: Humor (satire/ parody/ jokes)
  • Meng Mei Qi and Wu Xuan Yi and not a couple, nor did they get married. They are also not billionaires. They are members of a South Korean-Chinese band called Cosmic Girls, also known as WJSN.
  • The original tweet started as a joke from a fan of the band and took off from there.
  • The tweet went viral and people thought it was a real story.
  • The photo was originally taken at the Beijing International Film Festival, and it was cropped to only include the two women.

Pizzagate

  • In 2016, a story circulated that the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, D.C. was connected to an alleged child sex and human trafficking ring.
  • There were also claims that Hillary Clinton was involved.
  • A man from North Carolina saw the story and decided to travel to the restaurant to investigate. Upon arriving, he fired a weapon inside of the restaurant. No one was injured, and the man was arrested without incident.
  • The story and incident have since been referred to as "Pizzagate."
  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • Conspiracy theory
  • This story was completely false.
  • This story clearly shows how dangerous fake news can be.

Imposter Sites

  • Fake Stuff category: False/ deceptive
  • Imposter sites are fake news websites that are designed to look like a real/ credible website.

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Many of these resources and programs are funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.