Reporting Elections, Safety and Security of Journalists 1.4 Beware of fake news Social media feeds are filled with a lot of fake news and misinformation. Fake news has existed for a long-time, and social media platforms are perfect for this type of nefarious activity. Sharing false information on social media is now even a service in the underground or “gray” market. It is important to remember this when browsing social feeds and to check the sources of links carefully before clicking or sharing. To ensure you are not a victim, or a part of the problem by sharing fake news, you should be vigilant about what you click and share. Here are some ways to verify a post is real: See if a news story has been reported directly on a reputable site or mainstream media: If it is real news, you can bet more than one media outlet is reporting on it. Look at the link: You can use similar principles that you use to protect yourself from phishing. Are letters in the URL replaced with similar characters? Look at the quality: Are there real comments? Are there spelling and grammar mistakes? Is it a professional looking website? Beware of clickbait headlines using hyperbolic terms. When browsing through social media feeds, you could use a mindset similar to the concept of Zero Trust. This means that you do not inherently trust anything, even if it is posted by a trusted person. Start from a place of Zero Trust and verify before deciding to trust a post. You never 47