{"alias":"newsItem","byline":"","standfirst":"Fake news is content that\u2019s purposely created to misinform and mislead. It\u2019s been blamed for shock election results worldwide, is considered dangerous by global experts and can be difficult to spot.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6741/fake.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow to spot fake news\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the moment, there\u2019s one thing on many people\u2019s minds (and social media feeds): \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus\u0022\u003Ecoronavirus\u003C/a\u003E. As a result, fake news and misinformation about the virus are everywhere from viral WhatsApp messages to Facebook and Twitter posts that urge people to share. Many of us constantly receive, process and share information via our smartphones and tablets, so how do we identify what\u2019s real and what\u2019s \u2018fake\u2019?\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://senseaboutscience.org/\u0022\u003ESense About Science\u003C/a\u003E is an independent charity that champions the use and understanding of evidence in public life. \u2018We say that if someone\u2019s making a claim and asking you to change your behaviour as a result, you should be able to ask them for evidence,\u2019 explains Alex Clegg, their Campaigns and Communications Coordinator.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELast year, Sense About Science released the Evidence Hunter activity pack, which aims to get young people asking critical questions about the information they see.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe pack was created with the help of local Scouts and volunteers, including leader Jane Sarginson. \u2018We piloted the activities we developed with my own Scouts, which was an interesting experience for all concerned. It scared me how much they believed, just because it was written on a bit of paper.\u2019 Jane explains. \u2018I think it\u2019s important that young people become aware of fake news, because they\u2019re bombarded with so many different sources that weren\u2019t around when I was a kid.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFact or fiction \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELast year, long before lockdown, we went to try out the Evidence Hunter pack with 1st Ely Scout Troop. Assistant District Commissioner and Section Leader, Caroline Spaxman, was kind enough to lead the session.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe young people got stuck in, using \u2018trust tokens\u2019 to show how much they trusted headlines at face value\u00A0without knowing the sources or evidence. At first glance, \u2018Being kind to others makes you happier\u2019 and \u2018Using social media affects your sleep\u2019 were the most trusted by far.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The \u201CBeing kind to others\u201D one is the most believable because it works for me!\u2019 explained Charles, aged 12. Lots of people agreed: it was popular because it\u2019s the Scouts way. Similarly, many of the Scouts\u2019 parents had told them that social media would stop them sleeping, so they trusted that one too.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Scouts weren\u2019t sure about \u2018Eating dark chocolate reduces stress\u2019, but they thought that \u2018Caffeine reduces premature hair loss\u2019 and \u2018Charcoal toothpaste whitens your teeth\u2019 sounded suspiciously like beauty advice \u2013 which they trusted less.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs soon as Caroline revealed the sources of the headlines, a heated discussion ensued.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fact that the shampoo headline came from a shampoo company\u2019s advert was met with shrieks of laughter; its token pile remained small, as just a few of the young people wandered over to furtively drop a token. In the end, it had just four. \u2018We didn\u2019t trust the caffeine one, because the hair people are making money from it!\u2019 someone shouted.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn the other hand, it was obvious that there\u2019s a huge amount of trust in the University of Oxford: the number of tokens for \u2018being kind\u2019 more than doubled. ScienceDaily\u2019s headline on dark chocolate increased a little too.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Metro\u2019s story on social media dipped slightly. This source was divisive \u2013 some Scouts firmly trusted newspapers, while others were more cynical. \u2018I\u2019d trust all of the newspapers equally \u2013 I think they\u2019re all a bit biased,\u2019 said Callum, 13. Jacob, also 13, disagreed. \u2018I wouldn\u2019t trust the Mail,\u2019 he said. \u2018They make some really weird claims.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThen it was time to put the sources under the spotlight, assessing the evidence with the \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://senseaboutscience.org/activities/the-ask-for-evidence-campaign/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Ask for Evidence campaign\u0022\u003ESense About Science guidelines\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Oxford University headline remained popular. \u2018Oxford is seen as a very good university, and here it\u2019s been backed up by an in-depth study; there\u2019s lots of information about how they did it,\u2019 Jacob explained. Callum agreed: \u2018How they\u2019ve worded it is quite professional; they\u2019ve used figures and they\u2019ve laid out their method.\u2019 The full Alpecin caffeine advert also seemed to cement opinions. From across the hall came an outraged, \u2018It\u2019s scientific gibberish! What does it even mean?\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I discussed the session with them afterwards,\u2019 Caroline explained, \u2018and they said it\u2019s been really useful, because it\u2019s made them realise you don\u2019t have to trust the headlines. There are more sides to every story, and I\u2019m impressed by how quickly they got that.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThree top tips for spotting fake news from Sense about Science \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Look at the source\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C/strong\u003EWho\u2019s making the claim? Is it a celebrity, a company or an academic journal? From there you can begin to work out where the claim has come from, and whether there\u2019s any evidence.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESense about Science points out that anecdotes or personal stories aren\u2019t as robust as proper scientific studies. It\u2019s also easy for anecdotes to be distorted (or made up entirely). A viral Facebook post could come from anywhere, for example \u2013\u00A0even if it claims it originated from \u003Ca href=\u0022https://fullfact.org/online/video-supposedly-showing-covid-19-patients-st-marys-hospital-london-was-actually-filmed-madrid/\u0022\u003Ea London hospital\u003C/a\u003E or \u003Ca href=\u0022https://fullfact.org/online/tasuku-honjo-coronavirus/\u0022\u003ENobel Prize-winning scientist\u003C/a\u003E, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that\u2019s the case.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, sources such as the \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus\u0022\u003Egovernment\u003C/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/\u0022\u003ENHS\u003C/a\u003E websites will have the most up-to-date information about the rules in the UK and what you should do if you\u2019re worried about your health. If you\u2019re unsure about a claim, check back with sources you know are evidence-based.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00222\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Ask questions\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C/strong\u003EDoes that source have any vested interests? Are they making money from it? Are they selling something? Why are they making this claim? It doesn\u2019t always mean the claim is dubious, but it\u2019s a good place to start. It\u2019s particularly important for channels like Instagram, where lots of celebrities get paid to promote a product. They won\u2019t necessarily look at the evidence, but they\u2019ll say that it\u2019s effective for a fee.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESometimes, people use coronavirus information to serve another purpose, whether that\u2019s racism, campaigning for mental health funding, or even campaigning against abortion. It\u2019s always worth questioning the motivation behind a post. Is it to give people evidence-based and up-to-date information about coronavirus, or is something else going on?\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis works for headlines too \u2013\u00A0especially at the moment. It can be tempting to read the headline (along with the caption on social media) and accept it as fact, but sometimes you have to dig a bit deeper to find the truth. Watch out for headlines that suggest they know what\u2019s going to happen in the future, for example, ones that talk about \u2018\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/post-lockdown-workplace-rules-revealed-18193633\u0022\u003Ethe new workplace rules\u003C/a\u003E\u2019. In a lot of cases, they\u2019re just talking about what could or might happen, and the authoritative-seeming headline was chosen to encourage people to click.\u00A0\u00A0 \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00223\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Evaluate the evidence\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C/strong\u003EHas it been peer reviewed: have other academics read it and agreed with the claims the study is making? Is it just one study, or have multiple studies proven it? Sometimes it\u2019s one sensational case that the newspapers are talking about, rather than something that\u2019s been subject to different studies, which the scientific community generally agrees upon.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJust because something claims it\u2019s backed up by science, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s necessarily true. \u003Ca href=\u0022https://fullfact.org/health/new-coronavirus-not-genetically-engineered/\u0022\u003EThe Daily Express, for example, misreported\u003C/a\u003E that \u2018Coronavirus may have been genetically engineered for the \u201Cefficient spreading in the human population,\u201D a bombshell new study has claimed.\u2019 This isn\u2019t what the study claimed at all \u2013 it just compared genome sequences, it wasn\u2019t about deliberate genetic engineering.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is a new challenge for everyone \u2013 including the experts. One expert making a claim isn\u2019t the strongest evidence; that comes when multiple scientific studies are compiled and analysed. \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-vaccine-could-be-ready-by-september-flmwl257x\u0022\u003EA leading scientist claimed\u003C/a\u003E that a coronavirus vaccine could be ready by September. She references data, but the claim isn\u2019t backed up by the sort of evidence we might usually expect (and she also clarifies later in the article that this is \u2018the most optimistic scenario\u2019, which is \u2018just about possible\u2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-times-interview-about-vaccines-with-prof-sarah-gilbert/\u0022\u003EOther experts\u003C/a\u003E have clarified the information, but it\u2019s worth remembering that they don\u2019t have complete evidence yet either.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFind what works for you \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe hope that these tips\u00A0help you feel more confident when confronting headlines and claims across the media and social media platforms.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s also important to check in with how news and information is making you feel. If you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or frustrated by what you\u2019re reading, it might be time to step back.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESome people have set themselves limits, for example, timing how long they spend on social media, or only checking a trusted news source once a day for the most vital updates.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"23 May 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48511,"nodeName":"How to spot fake news","title":"How to spot fake news","type":"newsItem","image":{"url":"/media/6741/fake.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd0d78bd50","caption":"Fake","type":"jpg","size":682286,"width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"How to spot fake news","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODUxMSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/may/how-to-spot-fake-news/"}