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[Des0lar]

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltech...f-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs

We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned

A lot of fake and misleading news stories were shared across social media during the election. One that got a lot of traffic had this headline: "FBI Agent Suspected In Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide." The story is completely false, but it was shared on Facebook over half a million times.

We wondered who was behind that story and why it was written. It appeared on a site that had the look and feel of a local newspaper. Denverguardian.com even had the local weather. But it had only one news story — the fake one.

He was amazed at how quickly fake news could spread and how easily people believe it. He wrote one fake story for NationalReport.net about how customers in Colorado marijuana shops were using food stamps to buy pot.

"What that turned into was a state representative in the House in Colorado proposing actual legislation to prevent people from using their food stamps to buy marijuana based on something that had just never happened," Coler says.

During the run-up to the presidential election, fake news really took off. "It was just anybody with a blog can get on there and find a big, huge Facebook group of kind of rabid Trump supporters just waiting to eat up this red meat that they're about to get served," Coler says. "It caused an explosion in the number of sites. I mean, my gosh, the number of just fake accounts on Facebook exploded during the Trump election."

Coler says his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.

Coler's company, Disinfomedia, owns many faux news sites — he won't say how many. But he says his is one of the biggest fake-news businesses out there, which makes him a sort of godfather of the industry.

At any given time, Coler says, he has between 20 and 25 writers. And it was one of them who wrote the story in the Denver Guardian that an FBI agent who leaked Clinton emails was killed. Coler says that over 10 days the site got 1.6 million views. He says stories like this work because they fit into existing right-wing conspiracy theories.

"The people wanted to hear this," he says. "So all it took was to write that story. Everything about it was fictional: the town, the people, the sheriff, the FBI guy. And then ... our social media guys kind of go out and do a little dropping it throughout Trump groups and Trump forums and boy it spread like wildfire."

More at the link including a full interview at the bottom!

Call me fake news if old

Edit: Whoops, messed that title up.... If a mod could put the right quote in the title, that would be nice.

 

[entremet]

I don't know how the guy can live with himself writing that crap?

Technically not illegal and I guess everyone needs to pay their bills, but I couldn't sleep at night doing that.

 

[McDougles]

At least liberals have the moral victory.

 

[Pickman]

This guy is pure evil.

 

[Onlinehero]

Is this fake... and if so, is it real?

 

[Linkstrikesback]

You'd have to try really hard to make fake news more unbelievable than the insanity trump was spouting, so I can see why it'd be difficult.

 

[Guzim]

I listened to this last night on NPR, and the guy is a registered Democrat too.

 

[Lys Skygge]

While a majority of the fake news I see on my Facebook come from conservative friends; I saw plenty from my liberal friends before the election, especially some ridiculous anti-Hillary propaganda from Bernie Bros. Now that Trump has been elected, many have changed their tune.

 

[Darryl M R]

Also sounds like both sides/parties are not the same when it comes to sharing propaganda, of course acknowledging that the left shares fake news but not as much. I called out someone that currently goes to my alma mater for sharing fake news.

While a majority of the fake news I see on my Facebook come from conservative friends; I saw plenty from my liberal friends before the election, especially some ridiculous anti-Hillary propaganda from Bernie Bros. Now that Trump has been elected, many have changed their tune.

Anti-Hillary fake news is conservative fake news. My point about calling someone out was because they shared a fake Anti-Hillary article. I'm sure the person didn't go vote also. She shared other fake stuff before and they all were conservative. . despite her being a black and gay. She really ate up that "Hillary is the Satan" propaganda since the 90s.

 

[Kuldar]

From the interview:

Tell me a little about why you started Disinfomedia?

Late 2012, early 2013 I was spending a lot of time researching what is now being referred to as the alt-right. I identified a problem with the news that they were spreading and created Disinfomedia as a response to that. The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right, publish blatantly false or fictional stories and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction.

Looks like it didn't work well...

 

[ElRenoRaven]

I don't know how the guy can live with himself writing that crap?

Technically not illegal and I guess everyone needs to pay their bills, but I couldn't sleep at night doing that.

You and me both. It's that kind of shit that has helped feed the bullshit you see. It sadly shows you though how many on the right lack critical thinking skills. They fall for this shit time and time again.

 

[Darryl M R]

From the interview:
Looks like it didn't work well...

Backfire of the century.

 

[Tamanon]

From the interview:
Looks like it didn't work well...

I believe he never got around to the disproving and denouncing stage. Shame that.

 

[Transistor]

There needs to be some sort of punishment for presenting fake news. It's becoming an epidemic that is actually a danger to society.

 

[Funky Papa]

We already had this thread. Please continue the conversation here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1319278&highlight=fake