Evaluating Sources and Identifying Fake News

Fake news is misleading information that is presented as fact or news, but upon closer examination, it has no verifiable facts. This site and the short clips on this page are designed to help you analyze information that you are presented in order to discern whether it is accurate and reliable information or misleading information. also call misinformation, or false information this is purposely spread in order to deceive people, now labeled disinformation.

• Examine the site's URL for oddities.
  • For example: ABCNews.com.co mimics the real ABC News website, but .co is the domain code for the country of Columbia. A guide to Internet domain codes may be found here.
• If it seems like a joke, it probably is.
  • Most satire news either features specific disclaimers about what it is or includes other obvious clues, like a source or author name that cannot be taken seriously. If unsure, follow the story back to its source and consider that source's array of stories as a whole.
• Check the authorship.
  • If an author is listed, you should be able to check his/her credentials. One way of doing this is by searching for the author on LinkedIn.

Watch this short video on the History of 'Fake News'

5 Types of Misinformation

One minute video on spotting Fake News.

Fact or Opinion Game -Pew Research Center

Play the Pew Research Center Fact or Opinion Game to classify news statements as either factual or opinion and see how you compare to participants of a Pew Research survey of over 5000 U.S. adults.

Deepfakes Video Quiz: Can you tell which is real or a Deepfake?

Advances in artificial intelligence could soon make creating convincing fake audio and video – known as “deepfakes” – relatively easy. Making a person appear to say or do something they did not has the potential to take the war of disinformation to a whole new level. Click here for CNN Business Deepfakes Quiz to test your skills and learn more about Deepfakes and what the US Government is doing to combat this growing trend.