M. Mitchell Waldrop
The genuine problem of fake news
intentionally deceptive news coopted social media go viral influence millions science technology suggest offer solutions 2010 computer scientist filippo menczer heard conference talk phony news reports gone viral special senate election massachusetts struck says menczer team indiana university bloomington tracking early forms spam since 2005 looking mainly thennew social bookmarking sites httpsdelicious called social spam says people creating social sites junk getting money ads outright fakery something new remembers thinking cant isolated casefig 1 fabricated social media posts lured millions users sharing provocative lies image courtesy dave cutler artistof course wasnt 2014 menczer social media watchers seeing fake political headlines phony horror stories immigrants carrying ebola virus politicians wanted close airports says think lot motivated efforts sow panicby 2016 us presidential election trickle become tsunami social spam evolved political clickbait fabricated moneymaking posts lured millions facebook twitter youtube users sharing provocative liesamong headlines claiming democratic candidate hillary clinton sold weapons islamic state pope francis endorsed republican candidate donald trump source day pope endorsed clintonsocial media users also targeted russian dysinformatyea phony stories advertisements designed undermine faith american institutions election particular