{"id":20434,"date":"2020-01-29T17:58:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T17:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/fake-news"},"modified":"2026-09-21T05:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T05:26:22","slug":"fake-news","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/fake-news","title":{"rendered":"Fake News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright wp-image-14294 size-full\" style=\"margin-top:0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Fake_news.jpg\" alt=\"Fake News\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Fake_news.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Fake_news-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Fake news<\/strong> is false or misleading content presented with the appearance of a news report and created or distributed with the intention of deceiving people. It may be entirely fabricated or combine accurate details with false claims, manipulated images or altered context.<\/p>\n<p>The concept does not include every journalistic error or all inaccurate information. It should also not be used as a simple label to discredit accurate reporting that someone finds inconvenient. Classification depends on the content, available evidence, presentation and intention to deceive, not on who applies the term.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Characteristics of fake news<\/h2>\n<p>Fake news imitates signals associated with journalism, such as a headline, an alleged source, a date or an editorial format. Its central claim, however, does not withstand verification. Common characteristics include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Falsehood or distortion:<\/strong> it invents facts, alters evidence or presents part of reality in a way that changes its meaning.<\/li>\n<li><strong>News-like appearance:<\/strong> it adopts the design, language or attribution of a news report to gain credibility.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intention and incentive:<\/strong> it seeks to influence, generate revenue, provoke a reaction, damage a reputation or attract traffic through deception.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lack of verifiable support:<\/strong> it provides no checkable sources or uses documents, quotations and data that do not support the claim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Intent can be difficult to establish from an isolated publication. An assessment should therefore separate what can be verified in the content from conclusions about who created it or why.<\/p>\n<h2>Types and related formats<\/h2>\n<p>Fake news can be constructed in several ways. These categories describe the mechanism of deception, although one item may combine more than one:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fabricated content:<\/strong> invents an event, statement or piece of evidence and presents it as real.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manipulated content:<\/strong> changes an image, audio clip, video or document to alter what it appears to show.<\/li>\n<li><strong>False context:<\/strong> uses authentic material with the wrong date, place, identity or explanation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impostor content:<\/strong> imitates a news outlet, institution or person to attribute a message they did not publish.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Misleading headline:<\/strong> promises or states something the content does not demonstrate. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/clickbait\">Clickbait<\/a> is not necessarily false, but it can be used to distribute fake news.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Satire and parody are not fake news when their fictional nature is recognizable and they are not intended to deceive. They may cause confusion when excerpts are redistributed without context. Propaganda is also a broader concept: it may select true, false or partial information to promote a cause.<\/p>\n<h2>How fake news spreads online<\/h2>\n<p>False reports existed before the internet, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/social-network\">social networks<\/a> and messaging systems allow a publication to reach new audiences quickly. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/virality\">Virality<\/a> does not demonstrate that information is true; it describes its capacity to spread.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Emotional impact:<\/strong> surprise, outrage or fear may trigger a reaction before the source is checked.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Frictionless redistribution:<\/strong> copying, forwarding or posting a screenshot reduces context and separates content from its origin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Algorithmic amplification:<\/strong> some systems rank content through engagement signals that are not equivalent to an assessment of accuracy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coordinated distribution:<\/strong> several accounts, sites or profiles may repeat the same narrative and create the appearance of independent confirmation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Motives may be political, ideological, economic or personal. Some items seek to influence public debate; others pursue advertising revenue, fraud, notoriety or reputational harm. Sharing false information without knowing its origin can expand its reach even when that person did not create the report.<\/p>\n<h2>Fake news, disinformation, infodemics and information overload<\/h2>\n<p>The European Commission distinguishes misinformation, which is false or misleading information shared without harmful intent, from <a href=\"https:\/\/digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu\/en\/policies\/online-disinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disinformation<\/a>, which is spread to deceive or secure political or economic gain. Fake news is one possible form of disinformation when it adopts a news-like appearance, but disinformation may also circulate as a meme, fake account, manipulated video or coordinated campaign.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>mistake<\/strong> may produce false information without an intention to deceive. A <strong>hoax<\/strong> is a fabricated deception that may appear as a news report, chain message, image or warning. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/infodemic\">infodemic<\/a> is an overabundance of information, including accurate, false and misleading material, that makes reliable guidance harder to find. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/infoxication\">Information overload<\/a> makes information harder to process or select and does not require that it be false.<\/p>\n<h2>How a potential fake news report is verified<\/h2>\n<p>Verification does not depend on a single signal. A sensational headline, spelling error or unfamiliar source may justify further checking, but none proves by itself that a report is fake. The process commonly combines these checks:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Identify the origin:<\/strong> locate the initial publication, its authorship and the available information about the outlet or account.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Examine the evidence:<\/strong> check whether quotations, documents, data and links exist and support the main claim.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Review date and context:<\/strong> confirm that images, statements and events correspond to the time and place described.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seek independent confirmation:<\/strong> compare the claim with sources that do not depend on each other or repeat the same origin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Analyze visual material:<\/strong> inspect cropping, edits and provenance through reverse searches, available metadata or specialist verification.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A conclusion should match the available evidence. It may be possible to establish that a claim is false, insufficiently supported or presented in a misleading context without assigning an intention that has not yet been demonstrated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition: Fake news is false or misleading content presented with the appearance of a news report and created or distributed with the intention of deceiving people. It may be entirely fabricated or combine accurate details with false claims, manipulated images or altered context. The concept does not include every journalistic error or all inaccurate information. 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