Why we should learn to spot fake news online

Fake news has been destroying friendships and trust for all citizens of the country. It has had a big impact on innocent people, which has been unfair for them. Fake news tells stories to citizens that are made up and convinces them that these events have happened. But how do you tell if the news is fake or not? Well, to tell whether the news you are seeing is fake, you can ask your friends or parents if they’ve heard of this or know about it.

A good idea to keep your news real is by watching news instead of looking up the news on social media. Scammers or hackers will most likely edit things on the internet because it is a lot easier to hack and edit whereas the news broadcasting company is hard to hack because you somehow must edit the amount of radio waves coming to the television. I don’t think anyone would attempt to do that. In addition to this, other people will be watching the television as well and if something is odd or wrong, they can view it too – although if you view it on your phone, only you can see the specific link you are viewing.

Some examples of fake news could be “Elon Musk dies with all his money stolen” or “The Sun will explode in a week” etc. These stories could tear up our community and make people worried and react, but when they realise it’s all fake, they could feel enraged and depressed.

Furthermore, if you hear fake news, your friends might think you are lying. They will not be impressed. Incidents like these could tear apart friendships and strong bonds with one another.

In conclusion, fake news can destroy trust and confuse many citizens of the world. Fake news started here could even cause stress and anxiety to people in faraway countries like Africa. A lot of fake news prank attempts have caused a bigger impact than what the people who put the fake news up expected. As a result, fake news is the worst possible prank you could do because it won’t just impact one person, but an entire city or civilisation.

Please note: Images were added to this Junior Journo competition entry by Kids News editors and minor edits applied as per publishing requirements and editorial guidelines on the site.