Fake News and How It Spreads
A fabricated story claims a political figure committed a crime. A manipulated image shows a crowd at an event that did not occur. A misleading headline distorts a legitimate study. "Fake news"—a term now used to describe everything from deliberate fabrication to disagreeable journalism—has become a defining feature of the digital information environment.
Defining Fake News
The term "fake news" has become contested, used by different actors to mean different things. Useful distinctions include:
Fabrication: Entirely invented stories with no factual basis, often created for profit or political manipulation.
Manipulation: Real content altered to change its meaning—edited images, spliced video, misattributed quotes.
Misleading framing: Technically accurate information presented in ways that create false impressions.
Satire misunderstood: Satirical content shared as if genuine by those who miss the satire.
Propaganda: State-sponsored or institutional content designed to advance political agendas.
The term has also been weaponized to dismiss legitimate journalism, making it less useful as a precise descriptor.
Why Fake News Spreads
Emotional Engagement
Content that triggers strong emotions—outrage, fear, excitement—gets shared more than neutral content. Fake news often exaggerates or fabricates to maximize emotional response.
Confirmation Bias
People share content that confirms their existing beliefs without verifying accuracy. Politically charged fake news spreads along partisan lines because it tells audiences what they want to believe.
Social Trust
Content shared by friends, family, or trusted community members carries implied endorsement. People may not fact-check content from trusted sources.
Platform Dynamics
Social media platforms amplify content that generates engagement. The same dynamics that spread legitimate viral content spread fake news—and fake news may be optimized for virality.
Information Overload
The volume of information online overwhelms careful evaluation. Quick sharing without verification becomes the norm.
Motivated Production
Fake news is produced for reasons: political manipulation, advertising revenue from clicks, ideological warfare, or simply chaos. Where incentives exist, production follows.
Sources and Vectors
Domestic Partisans
Highly partisan domestic actors create and share content supporting their side. This includes exaggerated claims, misleading framing, and sometimes outright fabrication.
Foreign Influence Operations
State actors from Russia, China, Iran, and elsewhere have conducted influence operations targeting Canadian and allied audiences. These operations exploit domestic divisions, amplify inflammatory content, and sometimes create fake personas and outlets.
For-Profit Operations
Some fake news is created simply to generate advertising revenue. Sensational content attracts clicks; clicks generate ad revenue. The truth of content is irrelevant to this business model.
Conspiracy Communities
Online communities organized around conspiracy theories generate and spread content supporting their beliefs. Community members become distribution networks for false claims.
Consequences
Electoral impact: False claims about candidates, voting systems, and election results can influence votes and undermine trust in democratic outcomes.
Public health: Health misinformation—about vaccines, treatments, disease transmission—contributes to preventable illness and death.
Social division: Fake news amplifies conflict, hardens divisions, and erodes shared understanding.
Trust erosion: The prevalence of fake news reduces trust in all information, including accurate reporting.
Responses
Platform policies: Policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior, labeling of disputed content, and downranking of misinformation.
Media literacy: Education in evaluating sources and claims.
Professional journalism: Sustainable journalism that produces trustworthy information.
Regulatory approaches: Laws addressing specific harms (election interference, dangerous health claims) while protecting expression.
The Question
If fake news is optimized to spread—designed for emotion, aligned with biases, promoted by platforms—then accurate information competes at a disadvantage. How can the information environment be rebalanced toward truth? What combination of platform accountability, media literacy, journalism support, and regulation would be most effective? And how should responses protect free expression while addressing genuine harms?