Fake news websites target United States audiences by using disinformation to create or inflame controversial topics such as the 2016 election. Most fake news websites target readers by impersonating or pretending to be real news organizations, which can lead to legitimate news organizations further spreading their message. Most notable in the media are the many websites that made completely false claims about political candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as part of a larger campaign to gain viewers and ad revenue or spread disinformation. Additionally, satire websites have received criticism for not properly notifying readers that they are publishing false or satirical content, since many readers have been duped by seemingly legitimate articles.
History The rise of fake news websites in the United States has been associated with the rapid growth of social media platforms during the 2010s. Researchers have noted that false stories often spread faster online than factual reporting because sensational headlines attract higher engagement from users.
During and after the 2016 United States presidential election, several investigations found that fake news publishers earned substantial advertising revenue from viral political stories shared on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Some websites were operated from outside the United States, particularly in Eastern Europe, where operators created fabricated stories designed to attract American audiences.
Social media Social media platforms have played a major role in the dissemination of fake news websites and articles. Algorithms designed to promote engaging content have sometimes amplified misleading or false stories. Critics have argued that recommendation systems and automated sharing features contribute to the rapid circulation of fabricated content during major political or social events.
In response to criticism, major technology companies introduced fact-checking partnerships, content moderation policies, and labeling systems intended to reduce the visibility of misleading information.
Definition Fake news websites deliberately publish hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media. These sites are distinguished from news satire as fake news articles are usually fabricated to deliberately mislead readers, either for profit or more ambiguous reasons, such as disinformation campaigns. Many sites originate in or are promoted by Russia, North Macedonia, Romania, and the United States. Many sites directly targeted the United States both because the U.S. is a high-value ad consumer and extraordinary claims are more likely to be believed during a political crisis.
The New York Times noted in a December 2016 article that fake news had previously maintained a presence on the Internet and within tabloid journalism in years prior to the 2016 U.S. election. However, prior to the election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, fake news had not impacted the election process to such a high degree. Subsequent to that election, the issue of fake news turned into a political weapon between supporters of Clinton and Trump; due to these back-and-forth complaints, the definition of fake news as used for such argumentation became vaguer.
Methods Fake news websites use a variety of methods to fool their readers into believing their content, either by attempting to persuade the readers that they are legitimate or by distracting readers with incredible news.
Clickbait
Fake news websites often have article titles that are incredible, prompting the user to click on it and read more. This method of enticing readers to view content on their website often leads to exaggerated or even fake titles. When linked to from other sites, usually social media, having an extraordinary story title played a large part in tricking users who cannot tell if the article is real or not. This became especially relevant in the 2016 U.S. election. Additionally, out-of-context or manipulated images can cause readers to incorrectly assume an article's legitimacy, often due to their inflammatory image choice.
Facebook's Vice President of News Feed says the social media giant defines clickbait "as headlines that withhold significant amounts of information and mislead the user". Because it is difficult to determine what content exactly is fake news, the website uses a data set to calculate the likelihood of a headline being clickbait.
Impersonation Another method of gaining readers is impersonating a legitimate news organization. This can come in two forms, either by copying a popular news organization's website formatting and pretending to be a lesser known publication or by completely copying an existing website down to its name and authors. Exact copies can trick viewers into believing the website is an official organization such as the Bloomberg.ma or cnn-trending.com.
ABCnews.com.co was a fake news website that "crudely" spoofed legitimate journalistic organization ABC News, but was in reality completely unrelated. The site published only fake stories, usually with a realistic clickbait headline, albeit with story-details containing enough flaws that the "discerning reader would likely notice" it was false.
The Denver Guardian was a blog site registered in 2016 that claimed to be a legitimate newspaper in Denver, but only ran a single fabricated story that went viral.
Typosquatting Typosquatting, a form of cybersquatting, is based on Internet users mistyping the name of a popular Web site. A typosquatter will monitor how many clicks a "typo" domain name receives and use the information to sell advertising for the sites that receive a high volume of "accidental" traffic. Many popular fake news websites like ABCnews.com.co attempted to impersonate a legitimate U.S. news publication, relying on readers not actually checking the address they typed or clicked on. They exploited common misspellings, slight misphrasings and abuse of top-level domains such as .com.co as opposed to .com. Many social media users were duped, believing they were going to an actual news publication's website.
Obscurity
Since the authors of these websites are not actual reporters, many fake news sites either pretend to have the identity of a reporter or simply do not include an 'About Us' page. When these sites are publicized by actual organizations, they receive a bit of legitimacy along with more viewers.
Fake news campaigns The election cycle of the US office of president has become a focal point around which many campaigns of fake news are organized.
2016 election cycle
Fake news websites played a large part in the online news community during the election, reinforced by extreme exposure on Facebook and Google. Approximately 115 pro-Trump fake stories were shared on Facebook a total of 30 million times, and 41 pro-Clinton fake stories shared a total of 7.6 million times. There were two main reasons for creating fake news: economical and ideological. The teenagers in Veles, for example, produced stories favoring both Trump and Clinton that earned them tens of thousands of dollars. Some fake news providers seek to advance candidates they favor. The Romanian man who ran endingthefed.com, for example, claims that he started the site mainly to help Donald Trump's campaign.
Major fake news sites involved ABCnews.com.co – pro-right Conservative Daily Post – both anti-left and anti-right Denver Guardian – known for anti-Hillary Clinton articles Disinfomedia – anti-right articles that aimed to trick alt-rights News Examiner – anti-left articles NewsPunch – inflammatory for both sides as well as conspiratorial SubjectPolitics.com – known for anti-Hillary Clinton articles
Social media Professor Philip N. Howard of the University of Oxford found that about one half of all news on Twitter directed at Michigan prior to the election was junk or fake. The other half came from real news sources. Criticized for failing to stop fake news from spreading on its platform during the 2016 election, Facebook thought that the problem could be solved by engineering, until May 2017 when it announced plans to hire 3,000 content reviewers. Fraudulent stories during the 2016 U.S. presidential election popularized on Facebook included a viral post that Pope Francis and actor Denzel Washington had endorsed Donald Trump.
BuzzFeed News found that on Facebook during the last three months of the election, fake news stories received more attention than real news stories. It was discovered that the top twenty fake news stories had 8,711,000 shares, reactions, and comments, while the top twenty real news stories were only shared, commented on, and reacted to 7,367,000 times. One prominent fraudulent news story released after the election—that protesters at anti-Trump rallies in Austin, Texas, were "bused in"—started as a tweet by one individual with 40 Twitter followers. Over the next three days, the tweet was shared at least 16,000 times on Twitter and 350,000 times on Facebook, and promoted in the conservative blogosphere, before the individual stated that he had fabricated his assertions.
President Barack Obama commented on the significant problem of fraudulent information on social networks impacting elections in a speech the day before Election Day in 2016, saying lies repeated on social media created a "dust cloud of nonsense". Shortly after the election, Obama again commented on the problem, saying in an appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems". President Trump also commented significantly on fake news, creating the Fake News Awards to highlight real news outlets that publicly "misrepresented" him.
"Pizzagate"
In early November 2016, fake news sites and Internet forums falsely implicated the restaurant Comet Ping Pong and Democratic Party figures as part of a fictitious child trafficking ring, which was dubbed "Pizzagate". The conspiracy theory was debunked by the fact-checking website Snopes.com, The New York Times, and Fox News. The restaurant's owners and staff were harassed and threatened on social media. After threats, Comet Ping Pong increased security for concerts held inside its premises.
Days after the attack, Hillary Clinton spoke out on the dangers of fake news in a tribute speech to retiring Senator Harry Reid at the U.S. Capitol. Clinton called the spread of fraudulent news and fabricated propaganda an epidemic that flowed through social media. She said it posed a danger to citizens of the U.S. and to the country's political process. Clinton said in her speech she supported bills before the U.S. Congress to deal with fake news.
2020 election cycle
A November 2019 editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune suggested that Facebook and Google "do what broadcast and cable TV networks have done for decades: have politically neutral fact-checkers vet every single political ad. This approach has not prevented past campaigns from running powerful, hard-hitting ads. What it does prevent, or at least limit, is the rapid spread of disinformation."
According to Will Robinson, a Democratic consultant and a founding partner of New Media Firm, "This is the first post-mass media election in which, for the first time in U.S. history, more significant amounts of money will be spent on social media and digital than on broadcast." Glen Bolger, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, a leading Republican polling firm, predicted that "If you like clean, positive, issue-oriented campaigns, you're going to be disappointed. It's going to be rough and tumble."