Introduction

In some ways, “Fake News”, stories intentionally written to confuse or outright lie to readers, usually in an attempt to convince them to support or denounce a cause, is nothing new. Parents who were alive during the Cold War will remember regular pronouncements from the Communist bloc regarding seemingly miraculous economic or political progress, despite the obvious issues those countries were facing. However, with the advent of the digital age, the issue of media literacy – being able to tell what is real and what isn’t – has become uniquely challenging.

Every day people are barraged by a seemingly endless stream of “fake” or “questionable” news. Adults may be able to know that a story from a mysterious website based in Macedonia (which was legitimately the epicenter of a “fake news” storm) claiming that Donald Trump has called for tanks to storm Belfast’s streets. However children, particularly young children often lack the critical thinking skills that are needed to sift truth from fiction.

Around a quarter of 8-15 year olds believe that Google authenticates search results, and that if a site is listed in search results that means it is trustworthy (OFCOM, 2017). A study in Australia also noted that fake news has a particularly deleterious effect on children, suggesting that violent content pretending to be news can “normalise” such content and behaviours in children.

Therefore, it is essential that children are talked with regarding what is fake and what is real news content. The best placed people to do this are parents, and there are a number of ways that they can help combat the impact. This report will look at how serious the “Fake News” problem is in Northern Ireland, then it will look at the types of fake news that a child or young person might be exposed to and finally how best to combat them.

How big is our “Fake News” problem?

Firstly, it is important to lay out what this report is defining as “fake news”. This is because the term has been co-opted by a number of groups of people like politicians, journalists and members of the public. It has become a sort of catch-all to undermine any news story or research that doesn’t align with their personal viewpoint. Here is an example of what may or may not be fake news:

“MPs refuse to recognise that animals feel pain or emotion in Brexit bill vote” (Independent, 2017)

This headline would be particularly shocking for anyone – but the impact on a young person who cares about animal rights might feel genuinely distressed upon reading it. In the article, it suggests that the government has refused to recognise that animals feel pain or emotions and less-than-subtly suggests that when we leave the EU animal rights will suffer.

However, this headline from the Guardian, suggests the exact opposite:

Gove says UK law will specifically recognise animal sentience (Guardian, 2017)

Even an adult would struggle to keep on top of the “real truth” here, and the constant din of opposing sides accusing each other of being purveyors of “fake news” only makes this harder for young people. Because of the complex nature of what constitutes “fake news”, and what is in reality just stories or ideas we don’t agree with it is almost impossible to quantify exactly how much “fake” news young people and children see.

What we do know is that it is serious enough to be an issue. For example, a video posted regarding the Grenfell Tower disaster which erroneously claimed that 42 people had died in one room was seen by 6.6 million people (BBC, 2017). If your child or young person is a user of social media, then there is a high likelihood of them being exposed (in one way or another) to this type of “fake” news. 

Types of Fake News

There are many types of fake news – Politifact, a US-based fact checking website lists three main types:

Parody or Joke sites 

Arguably the least harmful of “Fake News” sites, most of these announce fairly prominently that they are not intended to be real stories. The exact purpose varies – for some, it is simply to amuse or entertain an audience. For others, it is intended to annoy or “troll” a certain section of society. Examples are listed below:

“47 Screaming Babies Surround Man In Local Starbucks” –  (Waterford Whispers News)

“‘What About You, Are You On My Team?’ Trump Asks George Washington Portrait” – (The Onion)

“Putting a car into outer space cheaper than parking it in London, SpaceX confirms” – (Newsthump)

As we can see the humor on these websites and sources is subjective. While adults could identify these stories are satire, children and young people may struggle. Overall, the object of most of these websites is not to mislead or confuse, but to at worst cause some annoyance.