Everybody has heard about fake news. Fake news is a neologism that can be formally defined as a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media. It is also commonly used to refer to fabricated or junk news, with no basis in fact, but presented as being factually accurate.
The reason for putting someone’s efforts in creating fake news is mainly to cause financial, political or reputational damage to people, companies or organizations, using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership and dissemination among readers using viralization. In addition, clickbait stories, a special type of fake news, earn direct advertising revenue from this activity.
