PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination. The New York Times pointed out that within a strict definition, 'fake news' on the Internet referred to a fictitious article which was fabricated with the deliberate motivation to defraud readers, generally with the goal of profiting through clickbait. While most fake news sites are portrayed to be spinoffs of other news sites, some of these websites are examples of website spoofing, structured to make visitors believe they are visiting major news outlets like ABC News or MSNBC. These sites are distinguished from news satire (which is usually intended to be humorous) as they mislead and sometimes profit from readers' gullibility. Definition įake news sites deliberately publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media.

Some of these sites use homograph spoofing attacks, typosquatting and other deceptive strategies similar to those used in phishing attacks to resemble genuine news outlets. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.įake news websites are those which intentionally, but not necessarily solely, publish hoaxes and disinformation for purposes other than news satire.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness.

Hoax websites for elementary students