In the social media era, fake news and propaganda are a menace to contend with. It gets even more prevalent during the electioneering period. Nonetheless, it is difficult to prove the connection between fake news and election outcome. A report by the Communications Authority of Kenya revealed that the majority of the youth between the ages of 21-35 spend three hours of their day on social media.

What is fake news?

This is a piece of objectively misleading information that is masqueraded as legitimate information. It can be in two categories; either deliberately false(100% invented) or information containing half-truths(correct information in the wrong context).

Fake news is not a new phenomenon it has been around for a while-yes even since pre-internet days.

However, the fake news back then emanated from trusted traditional media(newspapers, television, radio ). Nowadays the dynamics are quite different. Social media has enabled fake news because of its unregulated nature and also because of the speed at which it is spread.

Types of fake news

•Clickbait-characterised by sensational, exaggerated, and outrageous titles and headlines. The goal is to increase website visitors, therefore, increasing advertising revenue.

•Propaganda-distorted information is often aimed at promoting a certain political agenda/viewpoint.

•Misleading headlines to promote click-through.

•Unethical journalism-where a genuine and credible news source fails to perform due diligence and mistakenly spreads false information.

How to identify fake news in Kenya?

•Verify the source of the information-fake news may have spelling errors and unusual domain extensions. Critically analyze the editorial guidelines of the news outlet. Counter-check the logo, social media accounts, and content therein. There are fact-checking sites available to verify the authenticity of information such as Fact Check, and BBC Reality check.

•Benchmark with other trusted sources-are other credible media outlets reporting on the story?

•Check the author-has he authored other documents? Is he credible?

•Confirm the authenticity of image-with technological advancements come with the possibility of manipulating images to depict a predetermined objective. Tools such as Google Reverse Image Search assist in knowing the original source of an image. Telltale signs of a manipulated image include; wavy background and ragged edges.

•Confirm relevance of story by the date of publication.