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The Power of Fake News

Some fake news stories experience a sudden rise in the public
consciousness, get a spike of attention, and then fade quickly. Other
fake news stories have longer legs, bubbling around social media,
television, and talk radio for weeks, months, or even years.
Take, for example, the story of Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
Prior to Obama’s election to his first term as US president, in 2008,
some of his opponents began circulating fake news stories claiming
that Obama had been born in Kenya (the birthplace of his father).
Had this been true, Obama would not have been eligible, according
to the US Constitution, to be president of the United States. So-called
birthers asked for the release of Obama’s birth certificate to prove his
US citizenship. They were so insistent—and the story gained such
traction—that Obama finally did release his birth certificate. The State
of Hawaii, where he was born, issued the document. Still convinced
that Obama was not a US citizen, the birthers switched to the claim
that the Hawaiian birth certificate was a forgery. By then the falsehood
that Obama was not a US citizen had circulated widely. When Obama
was up for reelection in 2012, as many as half of all Republican
primary voters believed it.
Fake news doesn’t just impact the political arena. Since the late
1990s, many parents have shared false medical stories. One major false
claim is that vaccinations—received by children to prevent common
childhood illnesses such as measles, mumps, and chickenpox—cause
autism. This disorder first appears in children younger than two and
persists throughout life. It can include a wide range of symptoms. Some
people with autism have difficulty socializing and communicating.
Others focus on only one area of interest, such as animals or trains.
Others make repetitive movements, such as rocking back and forth.
Most people with autism exhibit a combination of symptoms. The fake
news that vaccines cause autism began with a fraudulent study by
Dr. Andrew Wakefield published in a British medical journal in 1998.

Fake News: It’s Real and It Matters 9