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Fake News Targets Local Area

By Brian Hagen

05/01/2017

(KAIR)--The widely discussed concept of “fake news” comes local, with a story shared on Facebook Monday claiming that a deadly Atchison crash claimed four lives.

However, there's no truth to the headline, or the accompanying story.

The subjects of the story, including the officer quoted, have no connections to Atchison, and Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie confirms for MSC News that no such crash has occurred in the local area.

An MSC News investigation reveals the article was hosted through a website not affiliated with any news source, and created using software accessible to anyone with a computer.

Additionally, it appears the story was originally shared to local social media pages through the use of a fake profile page.

Users report numerous online pop up ads resulting from opening the article, meaning the intent of the fake news story is to either generate clicks to gain ad revenue by scammers, or to possibly install malware on computers.

Anyone who encounters such questionable content should avoid opening it, and cross reference it with stories published by reputable, local news sources.

If it's apparent a story is fake, it should be reported to Facebook for further review.

Facebook, in recent months, has been working to stop the spread of fake news, partnering with leading journalism organizations to better scrutinize stories shared on the social network.

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