Exploring the internet and absorbing reliable information in order to shape our own views requires a complex set of knowledge and skills that help us distinguish between what is real and what is fabricated, between what is authentic and what is falsified.
For this very reason, avoiding online hoaxes and scams is a process that demands a significant investment of time and considerable effort if we want to stay accurately informed.
To outline a few general principles regarding how we consume, verify, and internalise information from the internet, we can begin with a case that took place in 2022 and attracted media attention. The incident initially sparked widespread panic. Examining it can provide answers to several vital questions that every internet user should understand in order to counter manipulation and the spread of fake news, making time spent online both valuable and effective.
Panic at the gas station
On March 9, 2022, a photograph of a partner MOL gas station in Bihor County, Romania displaying a fuel price of 11 RON was posted on Facebook. Within hours, most Romanian news agencies had picked up the information and treated it as genuine. A wave of panic spread among drivers, who began forming endless lines at gas stations in an attempt to buy fuel at prices lower than those suggested by the Facebook post. As demand for fuel rose sharply, prices at gas stations quickly began to increase. The following day, March 10, fuel prices were somewhat higher than the day before, but they were nowhere near the level shown in the original Facebook photograph.
It was a typical example of fake news spreading through the public sphere and the media. Fortunately, there are ways to detect it. Identifying the characteristics of this particular case can provide the tools needed to recognise other fake news stories as well.
The anatomy of fake news: how it emerges and spreads
First, we need to understand the mechanism through which fake news appears and spreads. In the example above, everything started with a real photograph, but one taken out of context. The image was then shared across social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, both in group posts—which allowed the information to reach many people simultaneously—and in private messages between users. That day, I received the photo along with alarming explanations from five different sources. Once the image had reached a significant number of people, the information evolved into a news story[1] that was picked up and amplified, one after another, by nearly all major news outlets. Most fake news stories begin with a kernel of truth. However, that truth is either only partially presented, removed from a broader context, or distorted to fit a particular narrative.
As for the spread of false information or fake news, it usually occurs against the backdrop of widespread negative emotions. According to a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, negative news spreads much faster than positive news due to a mechanism known as negativity bias.[2] Under this mechanism, when two events—one positive and one negative—carry the same emotional intensity, people naturally tend to focus more on the negative one. Another study also shows that fake news spreads far more aggressively when it appeals to fear or anxiety.
Techniques for exposing fake news: a guide for internet users
In addition to understanding the mechanism behind fake news, it is also important to understand how false stories can be identified before they are shared with others. Below are several useful methods anyone can use to detect fake news:[3]
- Approach articles and news stories critically and ask yourself questions about what you are reading: What message is being conveyed? What emotions does it trigger?
- Read beyond the headline: In an effort to attract as many visitors as possible to a website, article authors often use words or phrases designed to provoke controversy or panic, such as: “Shocking!”, “Unbelievable! Click here to find out!”, “The news affecting all people”, “Global disaster”, “You won’t believe it”, and many such others. In most cases, these articles offer very little concrete information and instead exploit a vulnerability in the human subconscious—our constant desire to feel safe.
- Check the publication date of the article: Sometimes an article that is several years old resurfaces and creates tension or discord among people once again.
- Check the author: Normally, the author of any article should be identified by their full name, both for transparency and to ensure accountability for the published content. After all, the press is considered a guardian of democracy, and in a democracy, things should be as transparent and open as possible. When evaluating an author, it is also important to remember that journalists and writers have their own preferences, values, and motivations, and they are not always fully objective or impartial. This tendency is especially noticeable in political reporting. For this reason, it is useful to examine other articles written by the same author, verify whether they have a good professional reputation among colleagues, and check whether they have expertise in the field they are writing about.
- Use fact-checking websites such as FactCheck.org for international news.
- Pay attention to the writing style of the article: Grammatical mistakes, awkward phrasing, or a lack of logical consistency between paragraphs should all raise suspicions for the reader. A professional author who respects both the profession and the audience should pay close attention even to these details.
- Verify information through multiple sources: If a news story appears on only one website and has not been picked up by other publications, it is often false. An event such as a European country adopting the euro would be far too significant to appear only in a Facebook group or on a single news outlet. Checking multiple sources is also useful because it provides different perspectives on the same event. As mentioned earlier, authors can fall into the trap of bias when writing about a particular subject, which is why cross-checking information is essential for accurate reporting.
- Always verify the source of the article: Fake news can appear on social media platforms such as Facebook, X, or Telegram, as well as on various websites, including news portals, blogs, and magazines. One of the first things to examine when checking a source is the page’s URL. Fake news websites sometimes contain spelling mistakes in the URL or use unusual domain extensions. For example, the website BNR.ro uses the .ro domain. By comparison, a site such as https://www.bnr.xyz uses the .xyz domain. At first glance, someone might assume both sites belong to the National Bank of Romania, but the domain extension distinguishes the legitimate site from a fake one. As a general rule, many official websites use domains associated with their respective countries: Romania uses .ro, Spain uses .es, France uses .fr, and so on.
Beyond understanding how fake news emerges and the methods used to detect it, another frequently debated issue must also be addressed: Why should we trust what appears in the mainstream press? Don’t all news agencies have their own agendas and interests? Why not place greater trust in articles shared on Facebook or Telegram groups, where there is supposedly no financial interest or censorship?
Traditional media versus social media
It is important to understand that if one thing is flawed, its opposite is not automatically good. In other words, despite possible interests and subjective perspectives, news agencies are still bound by professional journalistic standards and principles. These standards include documenting information through multiple sources before publishing, verifying that a particular claim is true, etc. Moreover, in the case of broadcast media, various regulatory bodies exist to limit the spread of false information. By contrast, monitoring content published on social media is far more difficult, while holding authors accountable is nearly impossible when they use fake accounts to post. Of course, this does not mean that every post or piece of information shared in online groups is false, but rather that such platforms provide a far more favourable environment for the development and spread of fake news.
The fuel price panic that put the entire country on alert was only one example of fake news spreading widely, but it was far from an isolated case. The iodine shortage scare in the spring of 2022[4], Elon Musk’s alleged Halloween visit to Bran Castle[5], and many other stories[6] generated either misinformation or feelings of fear, confusion, and distrust. And that is ultimately the purpose of fake news: to make people unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, left from right. In this way, people become far easier to control and manipulate.
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past,” wrote George Orwell in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the end, the struggle for control and manipulation is fought on the terrain of truth itself.
“What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”
This final quote, from the miniseries Chernobyl, is attributed to Valery Legasov, the chemical engineer who helped limit the effects of the radiation released after the nuclear disaster. The cost of lies is the sacrifice of truth in all the forms fake news can take—misinformation, propaganda, misleading headlines, and more. And it is the responsibility of every reader to help limit their spread by identifying and ignoring them. In this way, truth has a chance to prevail, and the press will be more motivated to fulfill its role of informing the public by providing useful, necessary, and credible information.
Răzvan Lup believes that the battle for truth is a constant of human life, one that takes many different forms, and that the phrase “information is power” has never been more relevant than it is today.
